US clean energy companies struggle through maze of policies: Mercom
25 Aug 2009
For clean energy companies, wading through a maze of federal, state and local policies as well as financial incentives can be a very intimidating task. Yet it is absolutely essential in order to get to the next level of competitiveness in an extremely dynamic and fluid industry.
Within the 50 US states, there are currently over 750 varying financial incentives and over 350 different policies at the federal, state, county and local levels to be dealt with in order to stay competitive and take advantage of the opportunities available in the marketplace,says public affairs and market intelligence firm Mercom Capital Group, that specialises in clean energy.
Developing a renewable energy project or starting and growing a clean energy company is a challenging task in today's market conditions, with most companies dependent upon favourable policies and financial incentives in order to stay cost competitive.
Having real time intelligence to keep track of the perplexity of the various US state policies, incentives that change almost daily amd the markets, is a must for any company looking to enter new markets and capitalize on the benefits these policies offer.
"Beyond competitive products and technologies, clean energy firms that want to outperform in the US market will need a sophisticated public affairs and government relations program and savvy policy partners who are very familiar with the latest developments from the federal level all the way down to the county level," says Gartner research director Al Velosa.
Raj Prabhu, managing partner of Mercom Capital Group, says, ''Along with federal and state incentives and policies, there are also local city and county programmes that cannot be overlooked and require constant attention. Of course, companies cannot make their decisions solely based upon policies and incentives without looking at market size and opportunity.''
