Under a federal program that is set to expire in 2014, twelve clean energy businesses in the United States will receive a total of $150 million in tax credits for domestic manufacturing equipment, the Obama administration announced Thursday.
The awards will help businesses build up their manufacturing equipment and infrastructure for products that support wind energy, hydropower, smart grid technologies, and fuel efficient vehicles, according to the announcement from the U.S. Department of Energy.
A federal tax program called the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit, or 48C Program is making all this possible. The program is a direct result of President Obama’s economic stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which provided about $90 billion in federal investment and stimulated another $100 billion in private investment in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and low-carbon fuels and vehicles.
The monetary awards will help fund domestic manufacturing of a wide range of renewable energy and energy efficiency products, including hydropower and wind energy to smart grid technologies to fuel efficient vehicles. This endeavor will support thousands of new manufacturing jobs in nine states and dozens of supply chains throughout the United States. The projects funded will include energy efficient buildings, fuel efficient vehicles, and renewable energy.
