Draft legislation has been introduced to the US House of Representative that would see energy storage receive the same investment tax credit as solar installations.
The ‘Energy Storage Tax Incentive and Deployment Act’, introduced by Pennsylvania representative Mike Doyle (pictured), would incentivise both utility-scale energy storage projects and small battery systems for residential use.
The current tax code allows an investment tax credit for energy storage when it is installed in conjunction with a solar energy system; this bill would extend the investment tax credit for energy storage investments in a wider range of applications and provide greater assurance to prospective investors.
The proposed legislation would add any “equipment which receives, stores, and delivers energy using batteries, compressed air, pumped hydropower, hydrogen storage (including hydrolysis), thermal energy storage, regenerative fuel cells, flywheels, capacitors, superconducting magnets, and which has a capacity of not less than 5 kilowatt hours” to the current solar investment tax credit.
“Efficient, cost-effective energy storage is essential for transition to renewable energy and increasing electric grid resilience,” Doyle said. “This bill would promote greater investment and research in energy storage technologies, bolster the advanced energy economy, an create more clean energy jobs.”
