SOLAR TAX CREDIT PASSES—NMPIRG’s Executive Director Jeanne Bassett joins Gov. Bill Richardson as he signs the Solar Tax Credit into law. The new law will help reduce energy costs and create high-quality jobs.

On March 3, Gov. Richardson signed the Solar Market Development Act into law, creating an income tax credit for homeowners and businesses that install solar electric and solar heating systems.

Because of Gov. Richardson’s leadership, along with bipartisan support in the Legislature, New Mexico is becoming a leader in clean energy development, with strong programs promoting wind power, energy efficiency, and now solar energy.

“This new energy economy will protect New Mexicans from rising energy costs, reduce pollution and global warming, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and create thousands of high quality jobs,” said Jeanne Bassett, executive director of NMPIRG.

The Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy (CCAE) and NMPIRG led the effort for the passage of the state level tax credit.

A New Energy Future
The passage of the Solar Market Development Act will also allow consumers to leverage other incentives including the Federal Solar Tax Credit to provide up to a 30 percent tax credit for both residential and commercial solar projects.

New Mexico is second in the nation for solar energy potential and should be leading the nation withthe largest per capita generation of solar power.

Part of NMPIRG’s Go Solar campaign is promoting a goal of equipping 50,000 rooftops in the state with solar panels.

NMPIRG is working to ensure that there will be clear certification processes, so consumers will know that both the installers and the equipment that has been installed are certified.