Meeting with Mr. Aneesh Chopra, the Virginia Secretary of Technology
On November 28, 2007, two members of Solar Panels Plus management, Bijan Kazemi and Cameron Mashayekh, along with Paul Risberg, President of AltEnergy Inc in Charlottesville, VA had a private meeting with Mr. Aneesh Chopra, the Virginia Secretary of Technology at his office in Richmond.
The subject of the meeting was to highlight the lack of tax incentives for renewable energy systems in Virginia and to accentuate this shortfall by comparing Virginia with the neighboring states like North Carolina. Secretary Chopra welcomed the idea of Investment Tax Credits (ITC’s) for homeowners and said he has taken note of the problem and will deal with it in due course. We also discussed the existing incentive program for PV manufacturers in Virginia which was established in the 1980s but remains unfunded to this day.
Overall, the meeting went quite well and we were pleased to learn that Governor Kaine and Secretary Chopra are enthusiastically encouraging renewable energy solutions and are keen on assisting the players in the alternative energy arena.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Secretary Chopra and his entire staff for their warm hospitality and attention to this critical matter and hope that these efforts will precipitate the introduction of tax incentive programs for renewable energy to Virginia, which in turn will spur significant investments in Virginia.
