Below is a summary of the article that appeared in the July 20, 2017 issue of “GEO Industry News,” a publication of the Geothermal Exchange Organization.
As GEO Industry News readers know, the GEO staff, the Board of Directors and our DC advocacy team have been very active over the past year with untiring efforts to reinstate the federal residential and commercial tax credits for geo-thermal heat pumps (GHPs) that expired at the end of 2016. We have worked closely with our lobbyists in Washington and several of our companies on grassroots efforts, resulting in hundreds of calls and scores of visits to key congressional and Senate leaders. Progress continues with every step.
It’s extremely encouraging that support for renewing the tax credits crosses party lines. We have Rep. Tom Reed’s (R-NY) H.R. 1090 in the House that would reinstate and extend our tax credits through 2021, including a 3-year phase-out. With the help of several important allies like the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association and the National Ground Water Association, we’ve rallied amazing support for HR 1090, with more than 100 cosponsors on both sides of the aisle in full support of the bill.
Continuing to add to our cautious optimism is the recent introduction of S. 1409 in the Senate by Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) Dean Heller (R-NV). The bill compares closely with H.R. 1090, and would retroactively reinstate the residential and commercial tax credits for GHPs. We see the bills in both the House and the Senate as great opportunities to achieve our tax credit goal on Capitol Hill.
