King Reintroduces Legislation to Support Affordable, Renewable, Home-Grown Energy

Press Release

Following an event last month at Mt. Abram Ski Resort in Greenwood to highlight the economic and environmental benefits of biomass, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today fulfilled his pledge to reintroduce the Biomass Thermal Utilization Act of 2015, legislation that incentivizes the development of biomass as an affordable, clean, and home-grown source of energy.

"Biomass offers an efficient, inexpensive, and environmentally-friendly way for people to heat their homes and businesses, which is why it would only make sense to incentivize purchasing it like we do other low-cost types of energy," Senator King said. "With this change, we could reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, lower energy costs, and support the local economy -- a true hat-trick for Maine."

Specifically, the bill would amend the federal tax code to incentivize biomass energy through tax credits for capital costs incurred in residential and commercial installations. Tax incentives already exist for other forms of renewable energy and this bill seeks to achieve parity between those renewable systems and thermal biomass systems.

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