Clean Energy Tax Credits: Opportunities for Counties in the Inflation Reduction Act

On August 16, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law. The IRA aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. It does so by making significant investments in climate and environment programs and providing tax incentives to boost the development and deployment of clean energy. Several of these incentives are now available to local governments under a ‘direct pay’ option, meaning that counties could elect to receive a direct payment from the federal government in lieu of the tax credit.