Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program

Office of Energy Justice and Equity

1. Office of Energy Justice and Equity
2. Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program

Program Updates

Applications submissions for the 2024 Program Year of the Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program are currently being accepted on a rolling basis. DOE will review applications and provide recommendations to the IRS in the order applications are received.

View the DOE Applicant Portal.

Learn more: U.S. Department of the Treasury Issues Proposed Rules to Expand Clean Energy Investments in Underserved Communities

The Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda – a transformative set of investments designed to create jobs, lower costs for American families, and spur an economic revitalization in communities that have historically been left behind. The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) established the program under section 48(e), which was added to the Internal Revenue Code by the Inflation Reduction Act, to promote cost-saving clean energy investments in low-income communities, on Indian land, as part of affordable housing developments, and benefitting low-income households.

The program prioritizes:

• Increased adoption of and access to renewable energy facilities in underserved and environmental justice communities.
• Encouraging new market participants.
• Providing substantial benefits to underserved communities and individuals who have been historically marginalized from economic opportunities and overburdened by environmental impacts.

The bonus credit provides a 10 or 20 percentage point increase to the investment tax credit for qualified solar and wind energy facilities with a maximum net output of less than five megawatts (AC). DOE will review applications and make recommendations to the IRS, which will allocate to up to 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of eligible solar and wind capacity per year.

A 10-percentage point increase is available to eligible solar and wind facilities that are installed in low-income communities or on Indian land and a 20 percentage point credit increase is available to eligible solar and wind facilities that are part of a qualified low-income residential building or a qualified low-income economic benefit project.

The annual Capacity Limitation is divided across each facility category as follows for the 2024 Program Year, plus any carried over unallocated Capacity Limitation from the 2023 Program Year:

Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program 2024 Capacity Limitation

Eligibility Description	Category or Sub-reservation	Total 2024 Capacity Available including 2023 Rollover (in megawatts)
Category 1: Located in a Low-Income Community800 megawatts to facilities located in low-income communities	1a: Eligible Residential Behind-the-Meter (BTM)1b: Eligible Residential Behind-the-Meter (BTM) – Additional Selection Criteria1c: Other Facilities1d: Other Facilities – Additional Selection Criteria	250250  100200
Category 2: Located on Indian Land200 megawatts to facilities located on Indian lands	2a: Located on Indian Land2b: Located on Indian Land – Additional Selection Criteria	100100
Category 3: Qualified Low-Income Residential Building Project224.8 megawatts to facilities that are part of federally-subsidized residential buildings	3a: Qualified Low-Income Residential Building Project3b: Qualified Low-Income Residential Building Project  – Additional Selection Criteria	100124.8
Category 4: Qualified Low-Income Economic Benefit Project900 megawatts to facilities where at least 50 percent of the financial benefits of the electricity produced go to households with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty line or below 80 percent of area median gross income	4a: Low-Income Economic Benefit Project4b: Low-Income Economic Benefit Project – Additional Selection Criteria	400500
TOTAL		2124.8

For the 2024 program year, at least 50% of the capacity of each category will be reserved for projects meeting certain ownership and/or geographic selection criteria as outlined in the Final Regulations and Revenue Procedure.

• Applicants must submit information for each facility for which they are seeking an allocation. Applications will require information such as the applicable category, ownership, location, facility size/capacity, whether the applicant or facility meet additional selection criteria, and other information.
• Applicants will complete a series of attestations provided in the online portal and upload certain documentation (in order to demonstrate project maturity).
• Each individual completing an application on behalf of their organization will need a Login.gov account in order to complete an application.