Senators unveil new energy tax bill

Senate Energy & Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) have teamed up to introduce legislation providing tax incentives to the energy sector. 

The bill, the Advanced Energy Tax Incentive Act of 2010, focuses on building and industrial energy efficiency, domestic manufacturing, emerging clean energy technologies and carbon mitigation. 

The legislation:

- Enables home and business owners to defray upfront costs of investing in energy-saving technologies, including performance-based tax credits for whole home retrofits. 

- Makes $2.5 billion in tax credits available to manufacturers dealing with clean renewable energy or enhanced energy efficiency products. 

- Establishes a $1 billion tax credit program to enable domestic manufacturers to undertake energy-saving measures that advance their competitiveness. 

- Facilitates the growth of renewable electricity by creating a tax incentive for energy storage systems. 

- Retools the tax credit for carbon capture and storage. 

A summary of the bill is located online at http://bingaman.senate.gov/policy/aetia_summ.pdf.