Mayor Keith Summey of North Charleston, South Carolina declared by proclamation that yesterday was “A Day To Support Solar” and called for Congress to extend the solar investment tax credit. The proclamation was read at last night’s North Charleston City Council meeting and was presented to local solar business owner, Dave McNeil of Hannah Solar Government Services, and myself, representing Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
This proclamation was inspired by recent efforts in South Carolina to advance solar energy development, efforts that will be threatened if the federal investment tax credit (ITC) is allowed to expire next year as planned. The ITC is a key policy that has helped level the playing field between older, highly subsidized energy sources and the solar industry, helping bring it into maturity. Specifically, the cost of solar has fallen year-by-year, with solar now costing 76% less than in 2006 when the ITC was enacted. As prices have fallen, solar installations have grown rapidly – by 1,600% since 2006. The solar industry now employs 174,000 American workers at 6,100 businesses in every state in the country. These indicators show that the ITC is working.
Chris Carnevale
Chris is SACE’s Climate Advocacy Director. Chris joined the SACE staff in 2011 to help with building public understanding and engagement around clean energy solutions to the climate crisis. Chris…
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