Does this site qualify for the energy community bonus?
Enter a project address. We check it against the official IRS/Treasury lists (IRS Notice 2026-39) and tell you which category it falls in, with the tract, MSA and data vintage.
Energy community report - $29
A PDF for your tax file: every category, census tract and MSA/non-MSA ids under both vintages, the unemployment and fossil-fuel-employment tests, a tract map, notice citations and the data vintage, with a one-page summary for your tax adviser.
Download a free sample (Charleston, WV) What's in the report
$29 one-time PDF for your tax file. No account.
How it works
- We geocode the address with the U.S. Census Geocoder to a point, a 2020 census tract and a county.
- The tract is checked against the cumulative coal closure tract list (Notice 2023-29 App. C, Notice 2023-47 App. 3, Notice 2024-48 App. 2, Notice 2025-31 App. 4, Notice 2026-39 App. 2).
- The county is checked against Treasury's statistical area table behind IRS Notice 2026-39 Appendix 1, under both MSA/non-MSA vintages.
- Brownfield status is parcel-specific and is flagged, not guessed.
Who uses it
Solar and storage developers screening sites, installers quoting commercial projects, commercial property owners, and tax-credit buyers checking a seller's bonus claim.
Common questions
What is an energy community?
For the clean electricity credits (sections 45, 48, 45Y and 48E), an energy community is (1) a brownfield site, (2) a metropolitan or non-metropolitan statistical area that has had 0.17% or more fossil fuel employment since 2010 and an unemployment rate at or above the national average for the prior year, or (3) a census tract (or a directly adjoining tract) where a coal mine closed after 1999 or a coal-fired generating unit was retired after 2009.
Source: IRS Notice 2023-29
How much is the energy community bonus worth?
For the investment tax credit (48 / 48E) the bonus adds 10 percentage points to the credit rate when prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements are met (for example 30% to 40%), or 2 points for projects that do not meet them. For the production tax credit (45 / 45Y) the credit amount is increased by 10%.
Source: IRS Notice 2023-29, section 2 | IRS Notice 2026-39, section 2
Which IRS list is current?
IRS Notice 2026-39. Its Appendix 1 lists the statistical areas that qualify based on 2025 unemployment rates (BLS LAUS released May 19, 2026) and fossil fuel employment through the 2023 County Business Patterns; that status is applicable as of June 10, 2026 until the next annual update. Its Appendix 2 adds coal closure tracts using MSHA and EIA data as of May 4, 2026.
Source: IRS Notice 2026-39
What are vintage 1 and vintage 2?
Since 2025 Treasury tests every county under two groupings of counties into MSAs and non-MSAs: vintage 1 (based on the 2010 Census) and vintage 2 (based on the 2020 Census). A county qualifies if it passes both the fossil fuel employment and unemployment tests under the same vintage; qualifying under either vintage is enough.
When is the location tested?
Generally when the project is placed in service. Notice 2023-29 also lets a project that is in an energy community on the date construction begins keep that status (a beginning-of-construction safe harbor). Statistical-area status changes every year with the unemployment data; coal closure tracts keep their status.
Source: IRS Notice 2023-29, section 4
All questions | Energy community map and how the bonus works