Federal Storage ITC

The Build Back Better (BBB) act was upended at the end of 2021 when Senator Manchin (D-WV) declared that it would not garner his support. Since then, the Senate has pivoted to voting rights legislation and filibuster reform. Few talks have occurred in the near year pursuant to reviving the current BBB.

However, the consensus in Washington D.C. remains that there is still a potential opportunity to get at least the climate and clean energy provisions (e.g. Standalone Storage ITC) enacted in 2022. (Even Senator Manchin recently remarked that the climate provisions enjoy some of the strongest support within the Democratic Conference!) For that to occur, the next steps would be for Senator Manchin to reengage in negotiations and find consensus with Majority Leader Schumer, the White House, and the rest of his Democratic colleagues. To that end, some of the more contentious social spending provisions may have to be dropped in order to secure his vote. Ultimately, we hope to see significant progress being made on a narrower package by the time President Biden gives the 2022 State of the Union Address on March 1st. It is important to note that this is a midterm election year, so the longer these negotiations drag on, the lower the likelihood that these provisions get enacted.

The bottom line is BBB in its old form will not pass. However, there is still a change that some of the more popular provisions (e.g. clean energy tax title) could pass in a smaller, narrower bill. Time will tell.

This page will be updated as more details become available, so please check back often. In the meantime, there continues to be a tremendous amount of growth in demand for front-of-the-meter and behind-the-meter energy storage across many states. For specific questions on how the storage ITC might affect your energy storage project, contact Stem using the form below.