National sales figures have revealed that American car dealers are reluctant to sell electric vehicles, despite the increased demand for environmentally friendly vehicles. [The NY Times] A newly published study in the Journal of Political Economy suggests that climate change will greatly reduce the ability of developing countries to engage significantly in international trade. [The… Keep reading →
On July 21, the Senate Finance Committee approved by a vote of 23 to 3 a bipartisan tax bill to renew for two years more than 50 expiring and expired tax provisions known as “tax extenders.”
In a state dominated by a coal-centric utility and with no real renewable portfolio standard, Utah is a surprise candidate for a utility-scale solar boomlet. But it’s happening, thanks to SunEdison, big solar’s tiny price tag, the continuing impact of the federal investment tax credit and – here’s the unique Utah twist – an… Keep reading →
Crescent Dunes will be generating electricity before the end of March, and SolarReserve’s south-central Nevada solar project won’t stumble out of the gate the way power-tower forerunner Ivanpah did, CEO Kevin Smith said in an interview with Breaking Energy. It would be an understatement to say there’s a lot riding on him being right. Crescent Dunes,… Keep reading →
Desert Sunlight is online and the U.S. Department of Energy has dropped the mic. The world-record-tying 550-megawatt photovoltaic solar plant in Southern California, formally dedicated on Monday, is the last of the big PV plants supported through the DOE’s loan guarantee program, the one that Republicans love to malign but which keeps showing solid results.… Keep reading →
The Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is arguably America’s most important solar policy. This 30 percent tax credit spurred 1,600 percent annual growth since implementation began in 2007 and turned solar into an economic engine. But the ITC is only authorized at 30 percent through 2016 before falling to 10 percent thereafter (for non-residential systems), and… Keep reading →
Congress this week passed the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, which extends a number of expired or expiring tax provisions through the end of 2014. The President is expected to sign the Act soon. The Act renews several energy-related tax provisions, including the production tax credit under Section 45 of the Internal Revenue Code (PTC) for certain renewable energy facilities. In the case of wind, geothermal, landfill gas, trash, marine, and hydrokinetic facilities and certain closed-loop biomass, open-loop biomass, and qualified hydropower facilities, a taxpayer will be eligible to claim the PTC if construction begins before January 1, 2015. The Act also extends Section 48(a)(5)(C), which allows a taxpayer to claim the investment tax credit in lieu of the PTC with respect to the facilities listed above if construction begins before January 1, 2015.
Here’s an interesting look at the peculiar personalities that often accompany top leadership in major oil producing countries like Russia, Iran and Venezuela. “If oil is a factor in the petrostate personality, one might ask whether we might see some change in the leaders, since oil prices have tanked by about 40% in the last… Keep reading →
The leading U.S. wind energy industry group has to be creative when it comes to ringing alarm bells for a renewal of the Production Tax Credit. After all, it’s something they do every couple of years. Now, with the PTC already a year out of date and a presumably less renewables-friendly Congress waiting in the… Keep reading →
It’s not quite full-steam ahead on a Reno “Gigafactory” for Tesla – but the electric car company did confirm that it has pushed around a lot of Nevada dirt, while also keeping its options open in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. This revelation came in the company’s second quarter 2014 shareholder letter [PDF], issued… Keep reading →
