| 1. Add your company to the national sign-on letter, if you haven’t already. 2. Call Senators Bennet (202-224-5852) and Gardner (202- 224-5941) today and tell them about the impacts this crisis is having on your business. Some helpful talking points are below. 3. Continue providing information about impacts to your business survey, even if you’ve filled it out before, as the situation is constantly evolving. 4. If you are interested in telling your stories to the Colorado media of how COVID-19 is impacting your business, please contact Mike Kruger at mkruger@cossa.co. |
| Talking Points for Senators |
| The U.S. solar industry employs 250,000 Americans and provides above-national-average wages, including more than 7,000 Coloradans in our state. This is not just a number – these are a quarter-million American families like mine who rely on a healthy solar industry to put food on the table and pay their bills. The COVID-19 crisis poses an immediate threat to every one of these jobs at a time when we need them most. Either use the impact examples below or provide your own examples of how the crisis is affecting your workers and their families. We are seeing a contraction in the residential installation sector – cancellations or delayed installations were initially up by 20% in some local markets and could reach 50% in many places. Due to uncertainty in financial markets, supply chain shortages from this global pandemic, and restrictions on large gatherings, utility-scale solar projects are also facing serious challenges and slowdowns. Some jurisdictions have stopped processing building permits or doing final inspections, which puts thousands of jobs in immediate danger. As a result of all this, we are facing serious liquidity/cash flow issues. Keeping our companies solvent and paying our employees during a protracted period of dramatically fewer projects is a major concern. How Congress Can Save Jobs and Investment in the Colorado Solar and Storage Industries Congress can use existing policy mechanisms to address these issues and allow solar companies to retain employees through the COVID-19 crisis. Give taxpayers the option of claiming the existing Investment Tax Credit (ITC) as a direct cash payments (in lieu of the ITC on tax filings next year) for all qualified solar energy projects. Pass a multi-year extension of the solar ITC and postpone the corresponding placed-in-service deadlines. Pass a stand-alone ITC for energy storage to mirror the solar ITC. Extend deadlines for placing solar systems in service to qualify for the ITC. |