A new White House initiative to train veterans for jobs in the solar energy industry could turn into a rout if its key federal solar energy subsidy is phased out on schedule next year — a problem for the industry is that it’s dependent on the subsidy for hiring. The plan may also face challenges as the administration’s plan for heavy energy industry regulation is coming under fire from courts, Congress and state governments.
Dan Utech, the President Obama’s energy and climate change adviser, said Friday the president is aware of the threat and has included in his budget for fiscal year 2016 a plan to maintain solar subsidies.
But that will be a challenge for the president’s party during a presidential election year. The investment credit for solar expires at the end of 2016, and Congress is not eager to extend a credit that has in previous years proved hard to defend.
Even without the tax credit, though, the future for solar energy is “bright,” Utech said, noting that costs continue to drop. The deflation of solar costs makes it increasingly competitive with fossil fuels, according to Utech.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, solar power accounts for just 0.4 percent of American electricity production, versus 66 percent from fossil fuel sources, but Utech said new regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency expected to be finalized this summer will help the industry.
The EPA emission standards are “setting a long-term” strategy that “will continue to drive growth in solar,” he said.
However, the EPA rules, also known as the Clean Power Plan, are extremely controversial. Lawyers and legal scholars argue that the rules may be illegal under the Clean Air Act, and the plan currently faces a legal challenge in federal appeals court by about a dozen states. The GOP-controlled Congress is fervently opposed to the rules, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is advising states not to comply with the rules.
Obama will announce the expansion of the solar training program for veterans on Friday while visiting the Hill Air Force Base in Utah. The base will be included in an initiative that builds on an apprenticeship program provided to servicemen six months prior to leaving service.
Hill Air Force Base is the home of the state’s largest solar energy electricity generating station.
Utech said the initiative seeks to train around 75,000 people — including both veterans and non-veterans — for the solar workforce, where he says they will work in skilled jobs that pay well.
