As expected, the U.S. Senate yesterday pushed the tax compromise bill to an official vote. Why do we care, you ask?

The revised version of the tax bill that will be voted on most likely Wednesday this week includes a year-long extension of the renewable energy Treasury Grant Program, which provides commercial renewable energy projects a cash rebate that covers up to 30 percent of the project’s cost. The incentive was originally a 30-percent tax credit until the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 turned it into a cash incentive. On January 1, 2011, the rebate was scheduled to revert back to a tax credit, much to the dismay of renewable energy industry leaders who say hundreds –maybe even thousands — of renewable energy projects could not be completed without the cash incentive.

Yesterday’s tally was a “cloture vote” — a procedure prior to the final vote in order to end debate of the bill and move it to the stage where it is either passed or defeated. In order for the tax bill to clear the cloture vote and end deliberation, at least 60 senators needed to vote in favor of it. An unoffical count by MSNBC has approximately 80 votes in favor of the bill. CNN’s unofficial tally also has the figure well over the 60 votes needed.  All accounts of the vote are unofficial at this point because not all senators have cast their votes.

The final vote on the tax bill is expected to take place in the middle of this week, and GetSolar will bring you the final results.

For more information, check out GetSolar’s coverage leading up to today’s vote: