Power Guru leaders discuss D.C. rally and the road ahead for solar energy

BENNINGTON — Officials from a solar energy systems company headquartered at the Benmont Mill, Power Guru, recently participated in a Save Main Street Solar rally on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Held on Tuesday, June 17, the rally was organized by the national trade organization for solar, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). At issue are the solar provisions in President Trump's sweeping domestic policy bill that would eliminate many clean energy tax credits. The House passed the bill on Thursday afternoon, with the President expected to sign it soon.

The adopted bill does not include an extension for the 30-percent residential solar tax credit (Section 25D of the U.S. Tax Code), which is still set to expire at the end of this year.

“The bill being sent to the President’s desk today is a significant step backwards for our nation’s energy economy at a time when we can least afford it. In the face of rising energy costs, global instability, and growing demand for power, Congress has turned its back on the very industries that are adding the majority of the new electricity generating capacity to the grid," said Abigail Ross Hopper, SEAI president and CEO in a statement Thursday, upon the final passage of the bill. “America is in the midst of an energy manufacturing boom, with new solar and storage factories opening across the country thanks to the forward-looking policy this law will upend. Now many of these brand new factories will be forced to shut down and lay off thousands of workers, gutting communities that were finally seeing the kind of industrial revival rural America needs and handing an untimely and strategic victory to China."

Ross Hopper added, “While this bill avoided some very damaging provisions, it is deeply disappointing to see partisan politics outweigh practical pro-growth solutions that serve all Americans."

Alexander Mintz, Power Guru owner and CEO, and Zoe Contros Kearl, operations specialist, spoke about their participation at the rally and the wide-ranging implications of the bill in an interview on Monday.

"We thought it was interesting, because we found ourselves in a position where we were representing this state. There were no other Vermont contractors there. We were representing the state of Vermont in fighting for clean energy, the future of clean energy," Mintz said. "And we found ourselves in the midst of a group of very intelligent, very influential people in the industry trying to get a message across to Congress that this industry is worth safeguarding and worth investing in.”