Proposed regs for tech-neutral credits could mean clean energy investment boom, says BCSE

The updates for the clean electricity production credit and the clean electricity investment credit included in proposed federal regulations would provide solid market signals for making clean energy investments, according to Lisa Jacobson, president of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE).

“This is a historic opportunity to leverage private-sector capital for public benefit,” Jacobson testified yesterday during a public hearing held by the U.S. Treasury Department, which June 3 joined the IRS in publishing a proposed rule for the technology-neutral clean energy credits under sections 45Y and 48E that were added to the Internal Revenue Code by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022.

“These projects will provide communities with access to affordable, reliable, and clean energy resources while creating jobs and expanding economic development,” testified Jacobson. “In this way, the implementation rules are critical to delivering the results on the ground.”

Jacobson also said that the tech-neutral credits, combined with their 10-year span, “provide impactful market signals to invest in a variety of clean energy projects in the United States.”

Her testimony reiterated the recommendations made in comments BCSE submitted Aug. 2, the deadline for written or electronic comments to be filed with the IRS in the notice of proposed rulemaking.

Specifically, the proposed regulations would provide rules for: determining greenhouse gas emissions rates resulting from the production of electricity; petitioning for provisional emissions rates; and determining eligibility for these credits in various circumstances.

The proposed regulations would affect all taxpayers who produce clean electricity and claim the clean electricity production credit with respect to a facility or the clean electricity investment credit with respect to a facility or energy storage technology, as applicable, that is placed in service after 2024, according to the IRS.

BCSE’s testimony included requested changes to the proposal for the final regulations in the areas of eligibility and credit design, implementation of the 80/20 rule, and sector-specific topics regarding biogas, biomass, renewable natural gas, fuel cells, hydrogen, hydropower, solar, storage, and waste-to-energy.

Joining Jacobson as testifying witnesses were representatives of BCSE members the American Biogas Council, the American Biomass Energy Association, Bloom Energy, the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association, the National Hydropower Association, Plug Power, Reworld, and the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Jacobson said that since the passage of the IRA in August 2022, BCSE has made numerous submissions to help shape the design and implementation of the incentives funded by the legislation, and will continue to work with industry leaders and policymakers to advance the clean energy transition.

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