SCHUMER SECURES MAJOR VICTORY FOR CAPITAL REGION’S PLUG POWER; SENATOR SAYS BUDGET PACKAGES INCLUDES TAX CREDIT THAT IS VITAL TO INVEST IN NEXT-GEN FORKLIFT BATTERY POWER, JOBS & PLUG POWER’S CONTINUED SUCCESS IN THE CAPITAL REGION

Investment Tax Credit For Fuel Cells Expired in 2016; Schumer Fought To Renew Tax Credit, Which Has Proven To Be A Job Creator For Capital Region

Extending This Tax Credit Will Help Plug Power Continue to Improve Future Investments In Fuel Cells & Maintain Momentum For The Capital Region 

Schumer: Tax Credit Could Power Up New Jobs In The Capital Region

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced he successfully included legislation in yesterday’s historic and bipartisan budget deal that will retroactively reinstate and extend to 2022 the 30 percent Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for fuel cells.  Specifically, Schumer secured an agreement that will allow companies, like Plug Power, to reduce their income taxes by 30 percent of their investment in a fuel cell product, which helps defray the cost of switching over to the new technology. Schumer explained that the fuel cell ITC is a critical stimulus for Plug Power’s success and its extension will help the company thrive and create jobs in the Capital region.

“This tax credit not only incentivizes businesses to purchase clean, American-made fuel cells from innovative companies like Plug Power, but it is also a proven job creator. When I visited Plug Power in 2010 the company had 87 employees, when I returned in 2016 they had 330 employees, and revenue had increased by 400 percent!  The ITC tax credit had a lot to do with that success, so I knew it must renewed, but it wasn’t easy.  I’ve been working for over two years to bring my colleagues together, from both sides of the aisle, to pass this extension, and yesterday our hard work finally paid off.  Simply put, this pro-growth credit will continue to allow companies like Plug Power grow and create even more jobs for a generation to come.”

Schumer’s visited Plug Power in 2016 and 2010. Since then, employment at the Latham plant has more than tripled, as the company and its partners have leveraged the fuel cell ITC credit to grow this product line, all while adding other product lines.  During his visit in 2016, Schumer said this fuel cell ITC must be extended, as it has been used to grow this Capital Region company as well as incentivize its customers to make the jump to clean, American-made energy technologies, like its fuel cells.