U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer was in Syracuse Tuesday to announce a tax incentive initiative for local alternative energy businesses that he says could bring hundreds of green jobs to central New York.

According to a news release from Schumer's office, the energy and tax extenders bill, set for a vote on the Senate floor this month, would double the maximum tax credit for new residential solar panels and extend it through 2016.

It would also extend the tax credit for residential geothermal pumps through 2016 and the tax deduction for energy efficient commercial buildings through 2013. The bill will also allow homeowners who install residential wind power equipment, such as micro-turbines, to qualify for a property tax credit of up to $4,000 a year.

It would extend the tax credit for energy-efficient consumer appliances through 2010 and create a tax credit of up to $3,000 for consumers who purchase zero-emission plug-in electric vehicles.

The bill would extend the federal production tax credit for wind power and excise tax credits for biodiesel and renewable diesel gas through 2009.

The bill would also authorize $2 billion worth of clean energy bonds to finance facilities that generate electricity through alternative sources such as wind, biomass, geothermal, small irrigation, hydropower, landfill gas, marine renewables and trash combustion. Schumer toured SUNY-ESF's Center for Sustainable & Renewable Energy, a research facility that develops green technology for use at local alternative energy businesses.

The proposed tax credits, Schumer said, would offer much-needed incentives to boost innovative, alternative energy businesses that would help to produce jobs and lower high oil prices for consumers.