New Energy Community Maps for 2025: Guide for Clean Energy Developers

Treasury's Latest Announcement on Energy Community Eligibility

On June 23, the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2025-31, which includes updated lists for determining energy community eligibility under the Statistical Area Category and Coal Closure Category. For clean energy developers, this annual update can mean the difference between securing a 10% increase to a project's credit value or missing out on the bonus financial incentives.

The new guidance brings both opportunities and challenges. The energy community status listed in the notice is applicable as of June 23, 2025, and will continue until Treasury and the IRS issue an updated list based on unemployment rates for calendar year 2025.

Key Changes in the 2025 Energy Community Map Update

Statistical Area Category Expansion

The most significant change in this year's update is the expansion of eligibility criteria. The notice expands eligibility under the Statistical Area Category by adding a parallel analysis using the revised statistical areas from the 2020 census, in addition to the existing 2010 census areas. This means projects located in counties that shifted statistical areas between the two census years may now qualify if either statistical area meets the applicable criteria.

The updated list uses 2024 calendar year county unemployment rates released on April 18, 2025, by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Coal Closure Category Updates

The Coal Closure Category has also received important updates. The notice provides two lists of census tracts relevant to the Coal Closure Category. One list identifies tracts added because of data corrections, which qualify retroactively, meaning projects placed in service in any of these tracts in 2023 or later are potentially eligible for the energy community bonus.

CHECK YOUR PROJECTS

Use the Basis ITC/30C Adder Map to verify project eligibility across all the categories it tracks: Energy Community (Fossil Fuel Employment, Coal Closure, and Brownfields), Low-Income Communities, Tribal Lands, and 30C. Check multiple locations at once, compare year-over-year changes, and export results to CSV.

Explore the Map

With the DOE's own energy community map still lagging behind the latest Treasury guidance, developers need reliable, up-to-date tools to verify project eligibility. That's why we built the Basis 30C/ITC Adder Map — a free, interactive resource designed specifically for clean energy developers who need fast, accurate answers.

What makes the Basis map different:

• Multiple overlay layers in one view. Toggle between Fossil Fuel Employment areas, Coal Closure census tracts, and Tribal Lands — all on a single map with 2025 data already incorporated.
• Check multiple locations at once. Whether you're vetting a single site or an entire development pipeline, you can drop pins interactively on the map or upload a list of addresses and coordinates in bulk. No more checking locations one at a time.
• Export your results to CSV. Once you've checked your sites, export the full results — including eligibility status for each layer — as a CSV file. Plug the data straight into your financial models, diligence checklists, or investor reports.
• Year-over-year comparison. Use the year selector to compare how eligibility boundaries have shifted between annual updates, so you can spot areas that gained or lost status.

Whether you're a developer stress-testing a pipeline, a tax equity investor running diligence, or an advisor modeling credit values, the Basis map is built to save you hours of manual lookups.

Other Third-Party Resources

A couple of other industry resources have also adapted to the new guidance:

• Baker Tilly's Energy Community Mapping Tool: The accounting firm offers an interactive tool based on the Treasury guidance and appendices that provides another way to check individual project locations.
• Holland & Knight Resource Hub: The law firm maintains a comprehensive page with links to all relevant energy community guidance — a useful one-stop reference for staying current with regulatory changes.

Critical Timing Rules for Energy Community Project Qualification

Understanding when your project needs to qualify as being in an energy community is crucial for securing the bonus credits. The rules differ depending on your tax credit type:

Investment Tax Credits (ITC): Eligibility for the energy community bonus credit is determined on the date that the project is placed in service and is not tested again.

Production Tax Credits (PTC): Projects have more flexibility. If the project owner determines that the project is eligible for the energy community bonus credit on the date construction is considered to have started for tax purposes, then the project will qualify for the bonus credit for the entire ten-year PTC period and is not tested again.

This means a project qualifies if it either:

• Starts construction while it has energy community status, OR
• Achieves placed-in-service while it has energy community status

Evaluating Your Projects for the Energy Community Tax Credit Bonus: 3 Action Items

1. Verify Current Project Locations: Check all active projects against the updated lists to confirm continued eligibility or identify new opportunities.

2. Review Development Pipeline: Projects in counties that shifted between census statistical areas may have gained new qualification paths.

3. Update Financial Models: Because eligibility is determined on a placed-in-service date that is subject to potential delays, developers should think carefully about how to incorporate the statistical area category into their financial assumptions.

Final Thoughts on the Energy Community Tax Credit Bonus  

Planning Considerations

The annual nature of these updates creates both opportunity and uncertainty. The statistical area category changes every year, based on the prior year's unemployment rate. This means areas can gain or lose energy community status, making timing critical for project development.

However, there's good news for coal closure areas: Unlike the statistical area category, the coal closure category cannot shrink; once an area qualifies as a coal closure, it remains as such for the duration of the energy community bonus.

Looking Ahead

The notice's list of energy communities for the Statistical Area Category is effective from June 23, 2025, until the release of next year's annual update. Based on historical patterns, expect the next update around May 2026.

For coal closure categories, some updates have retroactive effects, so it's worth checking whether any of your past projects might now qualify for credits they previously couldn't claim.

The 2025 energy community map updates offer both new opportunities and require careful attention to timing. With the expanded statistical area criteria and updated coal closure lists, more projects may qualify for valuable tax credit bonuses. However, the annual nature of these changes demands that developers stay vigilant about eligibility status throughout project development.