Tax Extenders Bill Seizes Opportunity To Encourage Energy Efficiency
WASHINGTON – (RealEstateRama) — The Alliance to Save Energy released the following statement from President Kateri Callahan in response to the introduction of a bill in the U.S. Senate that would reinstate three key tax provisions incentivizing energy efficiency improvements:
“It is a glaring omission that we no longer encourage energy efficiency in the tax code, and this is a good step forward to begin doing that again. It’s just smart policy when you think about the benefits that energy efficiency delivers to our country. It’s not just saving consumers and businesses money and reducing the amount of energy we waste, it’s creating jobs and economic activity. The three efficiency incentives in this bill, particularly if they’re tweaked with simple technical updates that reflect more modern efficiency standards, will drive billions of dollars in construction activity in homes and buildings around the country. They will literally build in efficiency for decades to come because those structures will be in use for decades.”
“I want to thank Chairman Hatch and the other sponsors of this package for recognizing this potential by including the efficiency incentives in this bill. We look forward to working with the committee and others in Congress to make technical corrections to these provisions that will only make their impact stronger, and to pass these incentives into law.”
Three major energy efficiency incentives expired on Dec. 31, 2016: one that incentivizes homeowners for efficiency upgrades and equipment purchases such as weatherizing or installing new windows or more efficient heating and cooling equipment; another that incentivizes home builders for more efficient construction; and the third for efficiency improvements of commercial buildings and multi-unit residential buildings. The Alliance has called for updating and reinstating those or implementing new incentives that encourage, for example, public-private partnerships or master limited partnerships around efficiency projects. The bill introduced today would reinstate all three of these policies. For more information about the incentives, read the Alliance’s fact sheet.
About the Alliance to Save Energy
Founded in 1977, the Alliance to Save Energy is a nonprofit, bipartisan alliance of business, government, environmental and consumer leaders working to expand the economy while using less energy. Our mission is to promote energy productivity worldwide – including through energy efficiency – to achieve a stronger economy, a cleaner environment and greater energy security, affordability and reliability.
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