Press Release News

The U.S. Department of Treasury, U.S. Department of Energy, and IRS announced that the applications for the low-income communities bonus credit program under section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code are now open. 

This program provides a 10 to 20% boost to the investment tax credit for wind facilities in low-income communities. The main goals of the program are to increase access to clean energy in low-income communities, benefit individuals and communities that have experienced adverse environmental effects, and encourage new market participants. 

This program will lower energy costs and provide breathing room for hard-working families, create clean energy jobs in low-income communities, and support small businesses.

The Low-income communities bonus credit program allocates around 1.8 gigawatts via competitive allocation for the 2023 program across four categories. The IRS plans to distribute energy capacities as follows: 700 megawatts to facilities in low-income areas, 200 megawatts to those on Indian land, 200 megawatts to facilities associated with federally-subsidized residential buildings like those supported by the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and Section 8 of the Housing Act. Additionally, 700 megawatts will be allocated to facilities where over half of the electricity’s financial benefits are directed to households earning less than 200% of the poverty threshold or below 80% of the area’s median gross income.

The applications for the 2023 program will be accepted through the early next year depending on the availability of the capacity. The Treasury Department along with the IRS may reallocate capacity between categories and the unclaimed categories will go to the 2024 program when another capacity will be available via application.