U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) recently released a map showing areas of Pennsylvania that qualify as “energy communities” under a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act, where bonus tax credits are available to developers for locating projects in those communities historically dependent on jobs in the fossil fuel industry.
An energy community is defined as a brownfield site, an area with a significant level of employment in fossil fuels, or a census tract/adjacent census tract with a recent coal mine or retired coal plant.
The Inflation Reduction Act provides a bonus tax credit of 10 percent of the cost of any clean energy project in an energy community. The tax credits incentivize companies to build and manufacture new clean energy projects.
“Our coal communities have a storied tradition of powering our nation since the Industrial Revolution and that’s what makes them uniquely qualified for new energy jobs,” Casey said. “With the new tax credits I fought for in the Inflation Reduction Act, more clean energy projects will be built in our communities and Pennsylvania workers will continue to light the way into the future.”
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service, in collaboration with the Department of Energy, administer the tax credit.
In May, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, where Sen. Casey serves as a member, held a hearing on the energy community tax credits. Patty Horvatich, senior vice president of Business Investment at the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, an affiliate of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, testified on how southwestern Pennsylvania is well-equipped to compete for new energy and manufacturing investments. She testified that the new incentives were already driving new business interest in investing in the region.