Guidance released for $4 billion initial round of energy subsidies

The U.S. Treasury Department announced that the government will begin taking applications May 31 for the first $4 billion of the $10 billion Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit program and tax break for solar-and-wind projects in low-income communities. This credit is part of the Inflation Reduction Act and will be available for projects including manufacturing fuel-cell components, adding carbon-capture equipment to existing facilities or processing critical minerals. The department announced $1.6 billion of the initial funding round will be reserved for places where coal mines or coal-fired power plants have closed.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the administration plans to publish a list of Census tracts that qualify for the money. The places must either contain a coal mine closed since 1999 or a coal power plant retired after 2009 or be adjacent to such a Census tract.