WASHINGTON —Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES) Forum submitted comments urging the U.S. Department of the Treasury to revisit the proposed guidance on Section 45V of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). Section 45V creates a ten-year production tax credit intended to incentivize the production of hydrogen and enhance its potential application in hard-to-decarbonize industries.
“Hydrogen production is poised to be a key vehicle for the United States to assert global energy leadership and enhance its competitiveness, but only if the industry is allowed sufficient room to grow,” wrote CRES President Heather Reams. “Greater flexibility is needed for a potential hydrogen economy to develop, and to encourage increased investment in clean hydrogen technologies. Innovative hydrogen production pathways utilizing ‘all-of-the-above’ feedstocks should be encouraged and allowed to develop without undue hindrance.”
As examined in CRES Forum’s Right on Energy blog post on the Section 45V production tax credit, the submitted comments outline concerns with Treasury’s proposed guidance that would create significant barriers for hydrogen production and limit the opportunity to reduce emissions from industrial processes.
The comments emphasize why the proposed guidance must be agnostic both in form and application when supporting technologies and not result in the exclusion of existing efficient baseload, zero-emission sources that have potential for large scale hydrogen production. For example, the proposed guidance is written to make it nearly impossible for existing hydropower or nuclear power plants to take advantage of 45V. CRES Forum calls on Treasury to use 45V to incentivize investment in all-of-the-above hydrogen development by taking a feedstock and technology-neutral approach.
Click HERE to read CRES Forum’s submitted comments.