The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act provides strong new incentives for customers contemplating green-energy upgrades such as solar power, energy-efficiency fixes and heat pumps, while providing the companies that supply and install them with a decadelong window of certainty about the subsidies.
There are also incentives for utility-scale green-energy sources and upgrades and a new tax credit for nuclear facilities, such as the upstate Nine Mile Point 2 facility in which the Long Island Power Authority has a 18% share. And there’s billions in funding for infrastructure and energy programs that could benefit Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Solar installers on Long Island are cheering the return of the 30% tax credit for solar installations, a move that would cut around a third of the cost of systems that typically sell for about $25,000. The credit had been expected to reduce to 22% next year before expiring altogether by 2024. Now, the credit will extend through 2032, before reducing to 26% in 2033 and 22% in 2034.
The 30% tax credit, which comes in tax-refund checks the year after the work is complete, is retroactive to 2022 and applies to residential solar, wind, geothermal and biomass fuel installations, according to an assessment by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank.
There’s also an expanded credit for energy efficiency improvements in the home — to 30% from the current 10%, according to the center, and an extension to 2032. A former lifetime cap on home efficiency credits is replaced by a $1,200 annual limit, including $600 for efficient windows and $500 for doors.
But just as important as the new credits and rebates, said David Schieren, board president of the New York Solar Energy Industries Association, is the 10-year window to obtain them that the Biden administration included in the recently approved package.
“It’s tremendous,” said Schieren, who is also chief executive of installer EmPower Solar of Island Park, because the incentives provide an industry that has dealt with varying rebates and shifting tax credits over the past 20 years with a decade of certainty for the programs.
Heat pumps, which provide energy-efficient heating and cooling for homes and offices using electricity, also are scheduled to get their first 30% federal tax credit under the program, a big boost for New York State’s plan to see the heating sector shift to primarily electrification over fossil fuels.
“It’s a win-win for customers, especially low-income customers,” said Michael Nikfar, owner of HVAC Plus, an installer of heating and cooling systems in Great Neck. He’s particularly optimistic about systems that combine both solar and heat pumps, which can obviate the need for grid-based power altogether if the solar systems are the right size.
But much work needs to be done educating…
Read More:Federal climate act promises boost for solar, heat-pump projects on LI
