1

Final Overview of the §1603 Program

March 1, 2018

This document provides a final summary of the §1603 American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Tax Act (ARRTA) program. The program began accepting applications on July 31, 2009.

The §1603 program offered renewable energy project developers cash payments in lieu of investment tax credits

(ITC).1 The value of an award was equivalent to 30% of the project’s total eligible cost basis in most cases.

Qualifying technologies included:

• biomass • marine hydrokinetic • combined heat and power • microturbine

• fuel cells • municipal solid waste • geothermal • solar • incremental hydropower • wind • landfill gas

Program Results

• total number of projects funded = 109,766

• total §1603 funding=$26.2 Billion

• total estimated private,regional,state, and federal

investment in §1603 projects = $94.3 Billion

• total installed capacity offunded projects=34.6 GW

• total estimated annual electricity generation from

funded projects = 91.5 TWh

Impact

• 91.5 TWh is the equivalent of the following: 

o Roughly 8,500,000 homes.2

o 2.3% of the total net generation of the United States in 2017.

3

o The state of Colorado used 54.32 TWh in 2017.3

 1 An additional provision of ARRA allows project developers who are eligible for the production tax credit (PTC) to instead

elect to receive the ITC or an equivalent cash grant. 2 US Energy Information Administration. “Average monthly residential electricity consumption, prices, and bills by state”. In 2016, 

average residential consumption was 10,766 kWh per year. http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=97&t=3. 11/07/2017. 3 US Energy Information Administration. “Electricity Data Browsers”. https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/ Accessed 

3/1/2018.
2

4

 4 Residential Solar comprises projects under 10kW. Residential Solar projects must be owned by an eligible 

applicant and used in a trade or business or for the production of income.

168 165 565 1,028

22,077

85,763

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

Biomass Geothermal Other Wind Non-Residential

Solar

Residential Solar

# of Projects

Figure 1: Number of Projects by Type4

1,062 762 1,097

12,977

9,362

898

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

Biomass Geothermal Other Wind Non-Residential

Solar

Residential Solar

$ Millions

Figure 2: Awards by Project Type
3

5

 5 Previous reports have included total hydroelectric capacity under the “Other” category. This figure has been updated to only include 

incremental hydroelectric capacity additions and turbine replacements.

1,334 764 1,324

21,633

9,116

472

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

Biomass Geothermal Other Wind Non-Residential

Solar

Residential Solar

MW

Figure 3: Generation Capacity by Project Type5

7.5

4.0

6.1

56.2

17.0

0.7

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Biomass Geothermal Other Wind Non-Residential

Solar

Residential Solar

TWh

Figure 4: Estimated Generation by Project Type
4

Table 1: Summary of the Section 1603 Program by State

State

Sum of Total Funding 

[$ Millions] # of Projects Installed Capacity [MW]

Alabama 2.5 26 5.41

Alaska 25.9 9 25.59

Arizona 1,444.6 12,723 1,323.46

Arkansas 0.3 12 0.13

California 7,045.6 49,346 8,377.72

Colorado 545.3 6,743 668.46

Connecticut 141.4 1,687 103.94

Delaware 102.2 135 47.68

District of Columbia 3.5 134 1.27

Florida 381.4 1,466 211.38

Georgia 197.5 178 248.19

Guam 26.7 227 38.43

Hawaii 268.7 3,040 231.47

Idaho 498.5 80 899.66

Illinois 1,260.2 122 2,092.34

Indiana 372.9 55 637.61

Iowa 569.9 172 997.77

Kansas 109.8 44 212.00

Kentucky 2.8 28 2.51

Louisiana 31.3 3,691 33.90

Maine 327.4 67 457.36

Maryland 146.0 1,556 231.03

Massachusetts 422.4 6,396 405.10

Michigan 302.3 207 506.63

Minnesota 439.7 293 677.32

Mississippi 0.6 19 0.64

Missouri 256.4 649 352.27

Montana 150.4 29 190.67

Nebraska 134.2 23 183.85

Nevada 1,069.8 353 1,202.40

New Hampshire 175.3 46 261.70

New Jersey 1,063.4 9,805 822.09

New Mexico 230.8 128 327.74

New York 751.0 3,708 1,063.45

North Carolina 328.9 314 338.09

North Dakota 263.2 18 483.55

Ohio 331.7 370 526.26

Oklahoma 405.0 49 684.47

Oregon 1,057.9 1,897 1,782.61

Pennsylvania 771.2 1,172 1,009.09

Puerto Rico 182.8 68 264.44

Rhode Island 45.9 47 43.50

South Carolina 44.7 72 80.74

South Dakota 257.0 14 469.83

Tennessee 55.4 332 63.24

Texas 1,993.1 743 3,406.56

Utah 279.0 470 368.91

Vermont 84.6 463 87.62

Virgin Islands 9.5 39 11.01

Virginia 95.3 90 139.96

Washington 975.4 160 1,469.67

West Virginia 203.1 7 256.13

Wisconsin 161.8 241 115.31

Wyoming 110.8 3 200.02

Total 26,157.4 109,766 34,642.19