Brown: Tax Package Should Help Manufacturers Create Jobs, Transition to Clean Energy Economy

Press Release

Senator Files Amendment to Pending Tax Legislation to Encourage Clean Energy Manufacturing

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today filed an amendment to pending tax legislation that would provide $2.5 billion in tax credits to encourage clean energy manufacturing. Last week, Brown joined a group of 18 Senators on a letter to Senate leadership calling for the program, known as the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit (48C), to be included in the tax package.

"If the tax package is going to promote investments in clean energy, it shouldn't leave out the industrial Midwest. The Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit (48C) program was a hugely successful initiative that has helped seven Ohio firms and dozens of others nationwide expand operations and add new jobs. Any package passed by the Senate should include tax incentives to help manufacturers create jobs and transition to a clean energy economy," Brown said. "The 48C program is a proven job-creator that's good for the environment and good for the economy."

The Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit was authorized in Section 1302 of the Recovery Act and requires the Secretary of Treasury to work in consultation with the Secretary of Energy. It provides a 30 percent credit for domestic companies for investments in new, expanded, or reequipped clean energy manufacturing projects. The program is aimed at building capacity to meet this new and growing source of demand. Qualifying facilities manufacture a wide range of clean energy products, including wind turbines, solar panels, hybrid vehicle systems, carbon capture and sequestration systems, and biofuel refinery components, among others.

Brown has repeatedly called for the expansion and improvement of the 48C program. Earlier this year, Brown introduced the Security in Energy and Manufacturing (SEAM) Act. This legislation would extend and modify the successful manufacturing tax credit from the Recovery Act, which has run out of funds. In the past year, Brown has held several roundtables with Ohio manufactures who received Recovery Act tax credits to improve the energy efficiency of their facilities and create new, clean energy manufacturing jobs. The SEAM Act would promote more domestic manufacturing of clean energy technology.

The SEAM Act also helps restore American's manufacturing base. By giving priority to U.S. production, the bill would ensure that our U.S. manufacturing base produces all parts in the clean energy supply chain. As clean energy becomes one of the world's largest industries, forecasted at over $2 trillion annually, clean energy manufacturing provides a significant opportunity for the U.S. to restore its manufacturing base and create good-paying jobs domestically.

On April 15, Brown led a letter with 10 U.S. Senators calling for climate legislation to provide assistance for manufacturers by expanding the 48C program. On April 7, Brown joined Ron Bloom, Senior Counselor for Manufacturing Policy, to hold a roundtable with central Ohio manufacturers at Edison Welding Institute in Columbus. Earlier that same week, Sen. Brown met with southeastern Ohio manufacturers at Thermo Fisher plant in Marietta.

In October, Brown visited the GE lamp plant in Bucyrus, Ohio, to celebrate a new $160 million investment in the plant that is expected to create up to 130 new jobs. In May, the Bucyrus plant received a $19.8 million tax credit to retool for clean energy manufacturing.

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