The Senate vote was 49 to 49 for Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s (D-Mich.) tax extender that would have kept the tax grant alive, according to The Hill. Voting was pretty much along party lines, as seen here at Roll Call.
Unfortunately, 60 votes were needed for passage. Stabenow’s tax extender was attached to a transportation bill. The prediction by SEIA’s Rhone Resch that the 1603 tax grant would live again was overly optimistic.
An amendment to repeal the solar investment tax credit (ITC) and other energy-related tax credits from Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) was also defeated in the Senate 72-26. DeMint’s amendment would have repealed tax credits for the ITC, plug-in vehicles, and renewable fuels, and would have also addressed some taxes for fossil fuels.
The Stabenow amendment would have revived the Section 1603 grant program, which recently expired, in addition to energy efficiency incentives.
The Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind also expires at the end of the year — an event which typically collapses the U.S. wind industry’s progress.
As unfortunate as the failure of this bill was, even more distressing is DeMint’s attempt to eliminate the ITC for solar which managed to garner 26 votes. Proof yet again that elections matter!