EMNRD accepting applications for the Supplemental Solar Market Development Tax Credit Program

Michelle Lujan Grisham, Governor

Melanie A. Kenderdine, Cabinet Secretary Designate

Ben Shelton, Acting Deputy Cabinet Secretary

Rebecca “Puck” Stair, Energy Conservation and Management Division Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Sidney Hill

Public Information Officer, EMNRD

sidney.hill@emnrd.nm.gov

July 23, 2024

EMNRD accepting applications for the Supplemental Solar Market Development Tax Credit Program

Program targets taxpayers denied credits in previous years due to funding caps

SANTA FE, NM – The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department is accepting applications for the state’s Supplemental New Solar Market Development Tax Credit program. This program is for New Mexico taxpayers who were denied a solar tax credit in years 2020 through 2023 because the program’s funding was exhausted before they applied.

“On behalf of the New Mexico taxpayers who missed out on this tax credit, through no fault of their own, we thank the Legislature and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for creating this supplemental fund,” said Rebecca “Puck” Stair , director of EMNRD’s Energy Conservation and Management Division (ECAM), which administers the tax credit program. “We stand ready to process those applications and support the deployment of more solar energy in the Land of Enchantment.”

First enacted in 2020, the New Solar Market Development Tax Credit program offers a tax credit up to 10% on solar system installation costs for qualified solar thermal and photovoltaic (PV) systems, up to a maximum of $6,000 per taxpayer per year.

From 2020 through 2023, EMNRD was forced to reject hundreds of solar tax credit applications because the annual funding caps mandated by the legislature were quickly reached. In the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers appropriated $20 million to fund credits for taxpayers who missed out the previous three years. The legislator also boosted the program’s annual cap to $30 million.

EMNRD also is processing applications for taxpayers who installed solar systems in 2024. Taxpayers can submit applications for both the supplemental and the 2024 tax credits here .

Since the program’s inception, more than 13,000 New Mexicans have received solar tax credits averaging $3,078. EMNRD estimates these New Mexicans have each saved an average of $1,624 per year in energy costs while adding more than 100 MW of distributed solar generation to the state’s power grid.

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Sidney Hill

Public Information Officer

New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD)

Email: sidney.hill@emnrd.nm.gov

Phone: 505-629-2900