The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES
Act) is expected to be enacted as early as March 27, 2020. The
CARES Act provisions are intended to provide individuals and
companies with liquidity as the world battles the COVID-19
pandemic. While the CARES Act contains a few technical fixes, the
Senate was focused on providing quick and direct relief to
businesses and individuals. As such, and despite requests by the
renewable energy industry and a number of Congress members, the
CARES Act does not include any provisions to provide relief to the
renewable energy industry.
The renewables industry is facing uncertainty as the federal
wind production tax credit (PTC) and the solar investment tax
credit (ITC) approach their ends. The PTC is expiring in 2021 and
the ITC is phasing down from 30% in 2019 to 26% for 2020 and 22%
for 2021. The CARES Act does not include extensions for either the
PTC or the ITC.