A partnership between American Clean Power Association and Crux enables its 800+ members to save on transferable tax credits transaction fees as well as to access to programming and insights developed by the tax credit specialist.
The American Clean Power Association (ACP) announced a partnership with sustainable finance technology company Crux to make clean energy tax credit transfers more accessible to the clean energy industry.
ACP is an industry association representing over 800 energy storage, wind, utility-scale solar, clean hydrogen and transmission companies. Its member companies are now able to access discounted transaction fees on Crux’s platform and they’ll have access to Crux data in PowerCasts, white papers and reports, throughout the year.
The transferable clean energy tax credit market was created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) , and allows, for the first time, clean energy developers and manufacturers to sell their tax credits to third parties for cash—creating a powerful market mechanism to expand access to capital for clean energy infrastructure, innovative technologies and advanced manufacturing. In March the IRS issued its final guidance on the elective pay rules for clean energy tax credits created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Read about the final guidance here.
The transferable tax credit market is booming, with an estimated $7 billion to $9 billion in transferable tax credits transacted in 2023, according to the Transferable Tax Credit Market Intelligence report, released by Crux earlier this year. The company indicates that transferable credits currently account for one-third of the entire tax finance market, estimated at around $23 billion in 2023. Crux expects the potential for over $80 billion in solar tax finance by 2031, with a significant portion of the growth expected to stem from transferable tax credits.
Crux was founded in 2023 by Alfred Johnson, former deputy chief of staff to Secretary Janet Yellen at the U.S. Treasury Department, to create a market for transactions of the newly transferable clean energy tax credits, included in the IRA. In February 2024 the company announced it had raised $18.2 million in Series A funding, bringing its total funding to over $27 million.
“Our partnership with Crux will help catalyze accessible funding alternatives for clean energy,” said Jason Grumet, ACP’s Chief Executive Officer. “By simplifying the ability to monetize tax credits, the industry can invest more effectively and flexibly, bringing more projects, jobs, and investment to communities across the U.S. This collaboration underscores ACP’s commitment to leading innovative solutions that drive the industry forward.”
The partnership will launch officially at Cleanpower 2024, an ACP conference that opens on May 6 in Minneapolis. At the event, Johnson will be participating in daily fireside chats on the PowerCasts stage designed to educate members and attendees on clean energy tax credits.
“Capitalizing on the tremendous growth opportunity for our clean energy sector and maximizing the tax incentives provided by the IRA requires expanding the tax equity investor base,” said Susan Nickey, ACP board chair and chief client officer at HASI. “Partnering with Crux provides the industry with critical tools, data, and pricing transparency to build a robust and efficient market for tax credit transfer transactions.”
