U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., is championing a proposal to extend the Solar Investment Tax Credit for another ten years.
Crist showcased his “Sunshine Forever Act, legislation that would add another ten years of life to the Solar Investment Tax Credit” which “would allow for an additional decade of increased solar power generation and innovation across the country” on Tuesday.
“Sunshine is Florida’s greatest renewable resource, and the solar tax credit makes it cheaper and easier to turn our God-given sunlight into clean, endless energy,” said Crist. “If Congress fails to act, the Solar Credit will begin to sunset next year, fading away completely for homeowners by 2023. Now is the time to keep our foot on the solar accelerator. The Sunshine Forever Act will fight Florida’s greatest threat of climate change with our best resource – the sun!”
Crist unveiled the bill over the weekend at St. Pete Earth Day and he returned to it on Tuesday.
“The Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) was established in 2006 to lower homeowners’ and businesses’ costs to install electricity-generating solar panels,” Crist’s office noted. “Acting as a 30 percent off coupon paid for by the federal government, the tax credit has experienced great success – with a 1,600 percent growth in solar installations and 374,000 jobs created as of 2017. Currently, solar capacity generates 64 Gigawatts of electricity, which is enough to power 12.3 million homes every year. This offsets 3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year, equal to planting 1.2 billion trees. The Sunshine Forever Act, would extend the Solar Invest Tax Credit for ten more years, keeping the tax credit at 30 percent through 2029.”
Kevin Derby can be reached at Kevin.Derby@floridadaily.com.
