U.S. Tax Bill Misses Pro-Growth Opportunity Offered by $200 Billion Advanced Energy Industry

Thanks to efforts of Senators, worst elements of House and Senate bills were eliminated, but compromise still threatens investment in advanced energy technologies

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 15, 2017 — Today, national business group Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) released the following statement reacting to provisions in the U.S. tax overhaul bill language released by the conference committee for Senate and House votes expected next week.

“Despite progress on reducing the corporate tax rate, the final tax bill now before Congress is a missed opportunity to promote growth and provide market certainty for advanced energy businesses that employ more than 3 million workers across the United States,” said Malcolm Woolf, senior vice president for policy and government affairs at AEE. 

“We applaud the leadership of Senators that worked to address the concerns of the industry during this process,” added Woolf, recognizing the efforts of Sens. John Thune (ID), Dean Heller (NV), Chuck Grassley (IA), Rob Portman (OH), Cory Gardner (CO), Lisa Murkowski (AK), and Tim Scott (SC). “Without their leadership, the bill sent to the President would have drastically harmed the wind, solar, and electric vehicles industries and wiped out authority for tax-exempt bonding. That said, we are still concerned about the impact of certain elements of the bill, particularly the BEAT provision, which will likely undermine investment in advanced energy. We are also concerned that tax-exempt bonding was not re-authorized. 

“We are also disappointed that the bill does not level the playing field for other advanced energy technologies, such as fuel cells, storage, combined heat and power, geothermal, nuclear, and distributed wind," Woolf continued. "But we understand that Congress intends to address this issue separately. Such legislation should adopt the House-passed approach of a phasedown of tax credits over several years. Short-term fixes fail to provide the market certainty needed to unleash the potential that these technologies can bring to the American economy." 

About Advanced Energy Economy
Advanced Energy Economy is a national association of businesses that are making the energy we use secure, clean, and affordable. Advanced energy encompasses a broad range of products and services that constitute the best available technologies for meeting energy needs today and tomorrow. AEE’s mission is to transform public policy to enable rapid growth of advanced energy businesses. AEE and its State and Regional Partner organizations are active in 27 states across the country, representing more than 1,000 companies and organizations in the advanced energy industry. Visit AEE online at www.aee.net.