Don't be surprised if you hear Drew Setter humming "Let the Sunshine In" or "Windmills of Your Mind" at his Albuquerque, NM, office. The president of Drew Setter &
Associates, he scored a grand slam on behalf of his constitutencies in the renewable energy industry of New Mexico: a recently passed state tax credit for using solar power
and wind power energy.
"It was one of the few tax initiatives to get out of the New Mexico state legislature this session," says Setter of the Solar Market Development Act, which gives a tax credit
for photovoltaic and solar thermal systems for New Mexico residents and businesses, equal to 30% of the installed cost minus any applicable federal credits, up to a maximum of
$9,000 in credits per system.
The legislation was originally proposed eight years ago (Setter only joined the campaign in the past two years). However, a combination of recent economic factors (check your
local gas pump prices) and a new PR focus helped fuel the cause.
"We had to refine our message," he says. "Solar and renewable energy is often seen as a lefty or liberal type of a deal. We started to talk about it from an industry
standpoint, focusing on the state's small and mid-sized businesses and their ability to manufacture the technologies for these types of energy."
Working with the nonprofit Coalition for Clean and Affordable Energy, Setter got both the state's business community and the general population up-to-speed on the tax
credits proposed by the legislation. The PR push included supportive voter surveys (70% approval) that received significant news coverage, and a vigorous grassroots effort with
supporters calling and e-mailing their state officials and writing letters to their local newspapers.
Setter notes the pay off: The Senate voted 33-0 and the House voted 62-1. The lone malconent is ironically named (and we are not making this up) Dick Cheney!
Contact: Drew Setter, [email protected].