After the Internal Revenue Service  released additional guidance on the Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program, Evergreen Action Deputy Policy Director Rachel Patterson released the following statement:

“After Congress largely protected the climate investments embedded in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), it is now more important than ever that we ensure the equitable and rapid implementation of the IRA clean energy investments. The Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program gives investors in wind and solar energy additional benefits for investments in low-income communities or in Indigenous communities. This is great because this will really bring the benefits of the IRA, like lower electricity costs and energy savings, to low-income communities, who may not have the means to claim other clean energy tax credits under the IRA. 

“The guidance released today by the IRS provides greater clarity and precision on which communities and residential buildings would qualify for the bonus credit. We are pleased to see that in the guidance that benefits are defined explicitly as financial benefits. This would make clear that low-income folks who are left out of accessing other credits will actually feel the benefits of the clean energy transition. We are also encouraged that it states that 50% of the financial value of energy savings must be passed on to building residents.

“We need to ensure that every community, especially communities hit first and worst by the climate crisis, benefit from our clean energy transition. This guidance is a large positive step towards that vision.”

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