Over the past few months you may have seen or heard a continuous stream of ads warning about the imminent demise of the solar Investment Tax Credit and California’s Net Metering program. Good news for 2016: both of these programs have been extended. The incentive panic is over (for now). The solar industry – as well as homeowners and business owners – can concentrate on a steady transition to clean rooftop solar power.

As a result of the hard work at solar advocacy groups SEIA, Vote Solar and CALSEIA, the ITC is good through 2021 (30% in 2016-2019, then 26% in 2020 and 22% in 2021). And unlike their brethren in Nevada and Hawaii, the California Public Utilities Commission has made a preliminary decision to extend retail net metering, albeit at a slightly reduced rate.

But there is still real urgency to go solar: the sooner your installation is complete and you flip that switch to “on,” the sooner you’ll reduce your electric bill. Granted, installation costs are likely to be a little lower in future years, but electric rates keep going up and the “cost of doing nothing” will only grow as you pay your monthly electric bill. Many states still have rebate programs and caps on net metering – so check with your local installer to find out the status of incentives for your home or business. For more about the extension of the ITC and local net metering programs, please Listen Up to the Energy Show on Renewable Energy World.