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Issue Brief: Tax Reform & Renewable Energy Finance

Issue Brief: Tax Reform & Renewable Energy Finance

Full Title: Issue Brief: Tax Reform & Renewable Energy Finance
Author(s):
Publisher(s): American Council on Renewable Energy
Publication Date: August 1, 2017
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):

The Trump administration and Congress have made comprehensive tax reform a priority and have broadly outlined approaches for reform.1 While exact legislative language is reportedly being drafted at this writing, President Trump’s initial proposal and the House Republican tax reform blueprint published in June 20162 seeks to fundamentally reshape the U.S. tax system, with a major focus on reducing marginal corporate tax rates.

Certainly, a reduction of tax rates from the current 35 percent level (whether to the 15 percent rate called for in the President’s plan or the 20 percent rate called for by the House) could have a positive impact on renewable energy finance and investment, just as lower taxes help promote investment in other major industrial sectors.

Beyond the discussion on rates, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) and its member companies are working to ensure that legislators also recognize the importance of current federal tax credits in promoting investment in renewable energy projects. Any revision of the tax code should avoid disruption of the renewable energy investment and deployment incentivized by the production and investment tax credits.

As lawmakers weigh the potential impacts of tax reform, our outreach efforts are intended to highlight the enormous changes taking place in what has become one of the nation’s fastest growing economic sectors. Renewable energy generation has been the largest source of private sector infrastructure investment in the U.S. over the past six years.3 In 2016, more than $46 billion was invested to support 21.5 gigawatts of new renewable power generation. 4 This new investment in power generation is driving economic development, especially in rural areas, harnessing the nation’s abundant domestic energy resources and helping achieve environmental objectives.

In this paper, ACORE offers key perspectives on tax reform and renewable energy finance, drawn from members in the U.S. Partnership for Renewable Energy Finance (US PREF), a coalition of senior executives that finance, develop, manufacture and use renewable energy.

All statements and/or propositions in discussion prompts are meant exclusively to stimulate discussion and do not represent the views of OurEnergyPolicy.org, its Partners, Topic Directors or Experts, nor of any individual or organization. Comments by and opinions of Expert participants are their own.

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