WASHINGTON — Many AHRI member companies joined more than 750 contractors and distributors in calling on Congress to extend and expand existing tax credits for home energy efficiency. 

In a letter to House and Senate leadership, the companies, which represent some 2.4 million American jobs, requested the extension as a means to help equipment manufacturers, technicians, installers, distributors, and homeowners alike in weathering the pandemic that has cost more than 400,000 jobs since March of this year. 

The signatories are asking for a reset and expansion of the current $1,200 lifetime single-use cap on the credit and raising the amount from the current 10-15 percent of eligible expenditures to 30 percent, up to $2,400, for the purchase and installation of energy efficient cooling and heating systems, windows, insulation, water heaters, and other energy efficiency improvements.

"Nearly 80 percent of energy efficiency companies have fewer than 20 employees, and these small businesses have been the hardest hit in our sector by the pandemic shutdown, with workers unable to get into homes and buildings to do their work," the letter states, adding that "providing a robust tax incentive for homeowner energy efficiency improvements will quickly restart this industry and help put these workers back on the job."

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