IRA ready

Houston solar company snags partnership with clean energy SaaS platform

Stella Energy Solutions will use the newly launched Empact platform to ensure its projects meet IRA requirements. Photo courtesy of Empact

Houston solar utility and story company has tapped into tech from a clean energy incentive management software and services business.

Stella Energy Solutions, a utility-scale solar and storage developer, has entered into a multi-year agreement with Empact Technologies, which provides software and services for clean energy tax incentive management. The new platform launches this week and is "designed to maximize the impact of clean energy project incentives under America’s Inflation Reduction Act," according to a news release.

Moving forward, Stella will use the Empact Technologies platform to manage its IRA tax incentives on all its projects for the next five years.

“Ensuring adherence to the new IRA tax incentive requirements is a critical element of our project financing,” says Staats Battle, senior vice president of operations at Stella Energy, in the release. “We chose Empact Technologies to manage the entire process on our behalf, from working with our EPCs and project suppliers, to providing third party proof of our compliance to our financing partners.”

The Empact platform uses a combination of software and services to make sure projects meet IRS regulatory requirements, which focus on wage and apprenticeship, domestic content, and energy and low-income community incentives, according to the release.

“We’re on the brink of a global transformation to a clean energy future. Empact’s platform will enable a more sustainable and equitable energy transition by optimizing the financial, social, and environmental impact of clean energy projects,” said Charles Dauber, founder and CEO of Empact Technologies, in the release.

Per a Goldman Sachs report, the IRA is estimated to provide $1.2 trillion of incentives by 2032.

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A View From HETI

Houston U.S. representatives and others from Texas are pushing the Trump administration to reinstate a portion of the $7 billion Biden-era Solar for All program, which aimed to help low-income families reduce their energy costs.. Photo via Pixabay

Eight Democratic members of the U.S. House from Texas, including two from Houston, are calling on the Trump administration to restore a nearly $250 million solar energy grant for Texas that’s being slashed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In a letter to Lee Zeldin, head of the EPA, and Russell Vought, director of the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the House members urged the two officials to reinstate the nearly $250 million grant, which was awarded to Texas under the $7 billion Biden-era Solar for All program. The Texas grant was designed to assist 28,000 low-income households in installing solar panels, aiming to reduce their energy bills.

“This administration has improperly withheld billions in congressionally appropriated funding that was intended to benefit everyday Americans,” the letter stated.

The letter claimed that numerous court rulings have determined the EPA cannot repeal already allocated funding.

“Congress made a commitment to families, small businesses, and communities across this country to lower their utility bills and reduce harmful pollution through investments in clean energy. The Solar for All program was part of that commitment, and the EPA’s actions to rescind this funding effectively undermine that congressional intent,” the House members wrote.

The six House members who signed the letter are:

  • U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia of Houston
  • U.S. Rep. Al Green of Houston
  • U.S. Rep. Greg Casar of Austin
  • U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas
  • U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Austin
  • U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson of Dallas
  • U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey of Fort Worth

The nearly $250 million grant was awarded last year to the Harris County-led Texas Solar for All Coalition.

In a post on the X social media platform, Zeldin said the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill” killed the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which would have financed the $7 billion Solar for All program.

“The bottom line is this: EPA no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive,” Zeldin said.

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