Committee advances bill to raise state solar tax credit to 30% after federal incentives drop
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Summary
The committee advanced SB55 to increase New Mexico’s rooftop and small-scale solar tax credit from 10% to 30%, a refundable credit with a statutory $30 million annual cap; industry and advocacy groups said the change would protect jobs and local installers, while senators raised permitting and consumer-protection concerns.
Senate Bill 55, which would raise the state tax credit for residential and small commercial solar installations from 10% to 30%, was advanced by the committee after testimony from industry, environmental and utility representatives.
Sponsor testimony said the federal 30% investment tax credit was no longer available for many projects and the state increase is intended as a bridge to preserve local jobs and market demand. The bill includes a statutory annual cap (reported in testimony as $30,000,000) and changes to recipient caps (testimony referenced moving an annual individual cap from 6,000 to 15,000 recipients). The sponsor said the cap means the state does not expect to exhaust funding immediately.
Solar contractors and businesses described layoffs and sharp declines in demand after the federal credit phased down. Wayne Stansfield (Affordable Solar) and Dan Baker (solar consultant) cited business disruptions and layoffs; Jim McKenzie (350 New Mexico) and other environmental and business coalition witnesses described grid, equity and job benefits from continued rooftop deployment. PNM expressed respectful support for expanded access to customer-owned solar.
Senators raised implementation questions: Senator Woods pressed the natural resources department’s certification and whether systems must be shown to produce electricity before credits are awarded; committee members and agency representatives described existing permitting and certification steps and said the department reviews applications before approving tax credits. The committee also confirmed in testimony that the credit is refundable for taxpayers without state tax liability and that battery storage is not included in this bill.
Clerk recorded a motion to pass SB55 moved by Senator Padilla and seconded by Senator Trujillo; the transcript records the chair announcing 'You have a due pass' and shows '70 affirmative, 0 in the negative' as the roll call result in the transcription. (Transcript roll-call formats for committee votes earlier were recorded as '7 in the affirmative, 0 in the negative'; the '70' string appears in this transcript and is flagged for verification.) The committee adjourned after the vote.
Next steps: SB55 will proceed with the committee recommendation to the next legislative stage; staff and agencies indicated permitting and certification processes and consumer-protection matters remain areas for follow-up.