On June 10, 2026, the IRS released Notice 2026-39, the routine annual update to the list of locations eligible for the energy community bonus credit under Sections 45, 45Y, 48, and 48E of the Internal Revenue Code. The notice updates two of the three energy community categories, the Statistical Area Category and the Coal Closure Category, and supersedes prior lists, effective June 10, 2026, until the IRS issues updated guidance.
Notice 2026-39 | Appendix 1 | Appendix 2 | Appendix 3
What Changed
The Statistical Area Category list (Appendix 1) has been refreshed using 2023 County Business Patterns fossil fuel employment data and 2025 annual county unemployment rates released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on May 19, 2026. The new list is effective June 10, 2026, and remains in effect until Treasury and the IRS issue a further update based on 2026 unemployment data.
The Coal Closure Category lists (Appendices 2 and 3) have been updated using MSHA and EIA data as of May 4, 2026. Appendix 2 adds newly identified census tracts with coal mine closures or coal-fired generating unit retirements. Appendix 3 identifies tracts that qualify retroactively to December 31, 2022, due to location data corrections. Projects in those tracts may be eligible to claim the energy community bonus going back to that date.
The notice does not update the Brownfield Category. The standards established in 2023 for this category remain unchanged.
What This Means for Developers and Investors
Eligibility for the energy community bonus (a 10 percent increase in PTCs or a 10-percentage point ITC increase if the PWA requirements are met) is determined based on location. In determining a facility’s location, a 50 percent nameplate capacity — or if a facility does not have nameplate capacity, a footprint test — applies.
Energy community status locks in on a project’s beginning of construction date. A project that qualifies as of its beginning of construction date retains that status for the duration of its 10-year PTC credit period or through its placed-in-service date for the ITC, even if the location later falls off the eligible list in a future notice.
If a project does not begin construction in an energy community, it may benefit from later energy community changes. For PTC projects, a facility will qualify if it is located in an energy community during any part of the year in which the PTC is determined. For ITC projects, a facility will qualify if it is placed in service in an energy community.
Following this week’s D.D.C. decision vacating IRS Notice 2025-42 and restoring the Five Percent Safe Harbor for wind and solar projects, there is uncertainty as to whether the Five Percent Safe Harbor can still be used to begin construction.
Developers and investors with active projects should verify their project locations against the updated Appendix 1 list and the cumulative Coal Closure list, which requires combining Appendices 2 and 3 of this notice with the coal closure appendices from Notices 2023-29, 2023-47, 2024-48, and 2025-31.
For questions about how these updates affect your projects contact the authors, your McGuireWoods contact or a member of the Renewable Energy Practice Group.