News

Prior to the state of the Union, AEE sent a letter asking Congress to extend several expired tax credits. The letter was featured in Politico’s Morning Energy.

The need for energy storage technology is growing as the need for a complement to increasing solar and wind generation grows, and investors are taking notice. Energy storage is a valuable commodity: it could also serve as backup power for businesses that want to reduce the amount they pay as electric utility. As the amount of solar and wind connected to the grid grows, batteries are one of many storage technology that are beginning to take flight. Read more here.

In 2014, many renewable energy dollars will go into what is being described as “cleanweb investments.” These are products and services that drive efficiency: be it in homes in the form of  clouds, or access to capital in the form of crowdfunding. Funding in clean energy will also go into large-scale solar and wind projects. Thirdly, investors will put their monies in ventures they feel good about. Read more here.

“U.S. advanced energy businesses need tax certainty for their investments in order to maintain their position in a more than $1 trillion global industry,” said Graham Richard, CEO of Advanced Energy Economy. “On behalf of more than 60 signers of this letter, we call on Congress to extend retroactively the recently expired advanced energy tax credits for wind energy, biofuel, and energy efficiency investments. By doing so, Congress will spur continued growth in an industry that is helping to make our energy system more secure, clean, and affordable."

- Steve Chadima, SVP Communications & Director of California Initiatives at Advanced Energy Economy

"There is a dynamic 21st century energy system growing rapidly. The architects and builders are governors, legislative leaders, public utility commissioners and executives of innovative energy companies," Graham Richard writes in an editorial for Energy Biz Magazine. Read the full article on Advanced Energy Perspectives on Monday, or check out page 42 here (opens PDF).

At the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, a number of federal tax code provisions critical to advanced energy growth disappeared. That’s because Congress has allowed itself to make tax law by inertia. Without Congress saying a word or taking a vote, millions of dollars of tax credits to bolster investment and entrepreneurship simply vanished. Congress should act now to extend these tax provisions retroactively.

“I congratulate Sen. Baucus for jump starting a much needed debate on energy tax reform,” said Malcolm Woolf, senior vice president for policy and government affairs at Advanced Energy Economy, a national business association. “AEE hopes that his discussion draft leads to a new approach for energy tax policy, one that is technology neutral, provides stability and predictability, and uses market forces to drive better energy options.

Coca Cola's newest fleet vehicles will be 2014 Chevrolet Express vans featuring electric drivetrains from XL Hybrids. Initial tests showed a 15-20% reduction in fuel consumption over existing vans. Coca Cola's decision is driven solely by economics -- the company is receiving no grants or tax incentives for the new vans. Read more here. 

The U.S. Department of Energy announced  $150 million in tax credits  for building America’s capabilities in clean energy manufacturing. The tax credit was made available to 183 domestic clean energy-manufacturing facilities as a result of $2.3 billion in funding during Phase I of the program. Phase II was launched to utilize $150 million in tax credits that were not used by previous awardees. These awards will support thousands of new manufacturing jobs in nine states. Among the awardees: AEE member company  Natel Energy , which received $2 million in tax support for equipping a manufacturing facility on the former Alameda Naval Air Station in California to produce 200 advanced hydropower turbines with capacity of roughly 90 MW.