The debate currently in Congress over extending Bush-era tax cuts could help or hurt renewable energy, depending on the fate of certain renewable energy provisions. It is unclear at this time whether an expiring Treasury Department grant program (commonly called the Section 1603 program) will be extended. This program specifically affects financing for wind and solar projects.

According to an article in The Hill, “The American Wind Energy Association, the wind industry’s trade group, sent out what it called a ’special alert’ concerning the ‘tens of thousands of American jobs’ they said could be affected if the grant program is not extended.” Many Senate Democrats are pulling together to try to keep the grant program in the list of programs to be extended. We’ll have to wait and see how this pans out, but hopefully the Section 1603 program won’t end up on the cutting room floor.

To read the entire article in The Hill, please click here.