The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been sweeping and pervasive. It has reached beyond those who have fallen ill, lost a job or who have been impacted by local and state stay-at-home orders. Supply chains have been...
On Dec. 27, President Donald Trump signed H.R. 133, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, into law. This massive year-end package includes a coronavirus stimulus bill amounting to $900 billion in emergency relief funds...
Renewable energy producers are likely to get an extension to complete new projects and potentially receive federal tax credits in return since many have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Six U.S. senators on both...
Green power has been building momentum for many years, but it still needs help from policy makers. Virginia has been a state that has long relied on one of the most notorious of fossil fuels, and lawmakers have made a bold...
On March 18, the Senate approved a House-passed coronavirus relief package bill that includes provisions for free testing for COVID-19 and paid emergency leave. President Trump signed the bill into law that evening. The...
This month, three members of the U.S. House Committee on Energy & Commerce released the legislative framework of the draft Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s (CLEAN) Future Act, with the goal of...
On Nov. 7, Donald Norcross and Andy Kim, two U.S. Democratic Congressmen from New Jersey, announced the Bringing Registered Apprenticeships to Veterans Education (BRAVE) Act, which if enacted, would ensure that all...
At the end of 2017, two energy-efficient tax incentives expired. One, in section 25C of the tax code, provided a tax credit to homeowners that covered part of the cost of energy-efficient upgrades, including air conditioners...
On Oct. 9, the Office of the United States Trade Representative announced a once-exempt type of solar panel will now be subject to a tariff. The technology, called bifacial solar panels, will be subject to a 25% tariff...
What do we do when cyber attackers try to disrupt the nation’s power grid increasingly controlled by digital systems? Find more ways for humans to override the sophisticated systems and manually thwart attacks from becoming...
Renewable energy has achieved tremendous gains in recent years. Much of that growth can be attributable to government standards that require utilities to move away from fossil fuels. Many states have adopted renewable energy...
Update 5/23/19: A provision based on Norcross and Kelly's Bill to allow 529 tax-free savings plans to be used for apprenticeships was passed through the House with a 417-3 vote as part of H.R. 1994, the Secure Act, a...
If you thought electrical contractors were immune to the ongoing proliferation of data and information privacy laws, think again. In several different ways, ECs may be on the hook for personal information obtained during...
In last week's midterm elections, most of the state ballot initiatives pertaining to clean energy suffered losses, though renewable power supporters cheered at the results in Nevada and in some key governor races. In...
In the midterm elections on Nov. 6, Democrats took control of the U.S. House of Representatives while Republicans gained seats to solidify their hold on the Senate. This will lead to a federal government that operates...
Already a pioneer in the field of clean energy, California has raised the bar again. In August, the state legislature approved a bill that, by 2045, requires 100 percent of retail energy sales to come from zero-carbon sources...
With the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) net-neutrality rules expiring Apr. 23, many proponents of net neutrality are braced for what seems to be an imminent demise of federally regulated internet freedom. However...
Prevailing wage laws help close the income gap among African American and white construction workers, according to an Illinois Economic Policy Institute study (ILEPI) released in February. The income gap between African...
On March 23, Congress passed, and the president signed, a $1.3 trillion federal spending bill. It keeps the federal government open for the remainder of the fiscal year and contains portions that may be favorable to...
The political and economic talk these last few days, of course, has been the Trump Administration's statement that it will impose tariffs of 25 percent on U.S. imports of steel and 10 percent on aluminum. Many in the...
