By Eric Wesoff | Greentech Media
President Obama just unveiled a $3.99 trillion budget for 2016 that asks Congress for a permanent extension of tax credits for the solar and wind industry.
The current policy, which includes an expiration of tax credits in 2017, is encouraging a boom in solar installations this year and next. But 2017 will see a collapse in utility solar — along with some retrenchment and uncertainty in commercial and residential solar markets.
In a section titled “Improving Incentives for Research and Clean Energy,” the 2016 budget proposal includes a request for $7.4 billion for clean energy technologies, along with a shopping list of funding and incentives for the renewable sector and nuclear power industries.