Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) plan to reintroduce the Energy Efficiency Tax Incentives Act ("EXTEND") on March 2. Reps. Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) will introduce a companion bill in the House once they gain Republican cosponsor. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) created tax incentives for energy efficient commercial buildings, homes, and equipment; however those incentives expire at the end of 2007 and 2008. The EXTEND bill, among other things, would improve upon these existing tax incentives by increasing the deduction for existing homes that are retrofitted to increase efficiency, extend for 5 years the tax deduction for energy efficient property installed in commercial buildings, and extend the tax credit for 5 year for energy efficient new homes. A fundamental change in this year's bill is an emphasis on providing "performance-based" incentives instead of providing "cost-based" incentives. So for example, the bill encourages energy efficiency measured by on-site ratings for whole buildings and factory ratings for products like air conditioners, furnaces, and water heaters. In the instance of retrofitting an existing home, the bill provides a $2,000 tax credit to the homeowner that retrofits their home to provide for 50% efficiency savings.
Efforts to garner co-sponsors in both the House and the Senate are underway by organizations such as the Natural Resources Defense Fund (NRDC). Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) has agreed to co-sponsor the Senate bill.
In October 2006, NEPPA joined 32 other organizations in sending a letter to then-Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Max Baucus (D-MT) in support of the 2006 EXTEND Act (S. 3628) and encouraging its inclusion in future energy tax incentives legislation.