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A Call to Action for the Geothermal Industry Adapted from a Press Release by the Geothermal Exchange Organization At the recent International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA) Conference & Expo, Chairman of the Geothermal Exchange Organization (GEO) Steve Smith, addressed the geothermal tax credits which are scheduled to expire at the end of this year. The 30% residential and 10% commercial income tax credits, which began in 2008, did help the industry get through the recent economic downturn. “The tax credits were really a savior for us. As we saw new construction drop off, both residential and commercial, we saw an uptick in the retrofit market that flipped to 75% of our sales in a couple a years. I lay a lot of that on the tax credit, which got a lot of people thinking about geothermal when energy costs were higher than today,” Smith said. Although the tax credits were a great tool to keep the geothermal industry going during the recession, the industry never really had a chance to help build the market share. With new construction on its way up, although it’s not where it was in the early 2000s, an extension of the tax credit will help the geothermal industry accomplish its original goal over the next four years. GEO has been working on the issue very hard in Washington, D.C., as well as individual states to get the tax credit ex- tended. “We ask for your help. We need all hands on deck with strong unity. When we walk into those House, Senate, and committee meetings, we need a long list of industry members in their districts and in their states. To accomplish that, we will be working hard with IGSHPA and with the National Ground Water Association. GEO will tie this together to show the power we have as a strong lobby with a real voice. We need that voice to be as loud as the solar industry’s voice... We need you and your companies to give force to our efforts. When we walk into the offices of our elected officials, we want to point to a long list and say, ‘Here are your constituents involved in geothermal heat- ing and cooling, from installers, drillers, engineers, architects, suppliers, to manu- facturers - everyone in the industry.’ The bottom line is that we need to work to- gether if we are going to be strong,” he concluded. WWDR photo of Steve Smith at the 2015 IGSHPA Expo. +3$ (1 -.2 )312 /0("$ !32 2'$ .4$0 ++ 1$04("$ -# $6/$0($-"$ .%%$0$# !7 '0../ ."* (2 .,/ -7 - $&(12$0$# 0& -(8 2(.- .6 9 .-* 5 6 , (+ 1 +$1 2'0../0."*!(2 "., 555 2'0../0."*!(2 "., 21 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® JANUARY 2016 Advertise your products and services in the WorldWide SUPER MART™ for less than a cup of coffee per day! Call Kathy or Brenda: (850) 547-0102