Your Source for Tax Equity News and Analysis
Here’s a presentation that Joseph Sebik, CPA of Siemens Financial Services and I gave to the Energy Subcommittee of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association on January 22: Tax Equity Energy Subcommittee 1-22-19 of ELFA.
Despite being to a leasing trade association, the focus of the presentation is the partnership flip structure. The presentation…
I am pleased to announce that I will be speaking in an upcoming Strafford live webinar, “Tax Reform and Renewable Energy: Planning Techniques, 100% Expensing, BEAT, Tax Credits and Interest Deduction Limitations” scheduled for Wednesday, January 16, 1:00 pm-2:30 pm Eastern.
As a reader of this blog, you are eligible to attend this…
Below are soundbites from panel discussions at Solar Power International on September 25 and 26 in Anaheim, California. Overall the conference was well-attended and the panelists and audience seemed optimistic regarding current and future opportunities.
The soundbites are organized by topic, rather than presented chronologically. The soundbites were prepared without the benefit of a recording or a transcript and have been edited for clarity.
Topics covered include tax equity, the solar start of construction rules, the investment tax credit (“ITC”) and tax basis risk after the Federal Circuit’s opinion in Alta Wind, the inverted lease structure, back-leverage debt, storage, community solar and merchant projects.
Macroeconomic Factors for Solar and Tax Equity
“Rising corporate profits have caused more tax equity to enter the market. That has shifted the negotiating leverage to the sponsors.” Managing Director, Money Center Bank
“Tax equity always needs to fund around 40 percent of the capital stack in order to use the tax benefits efficiently.” Managing Director, Money Center Bank “Equipment costs continue to come down. Module prices are back to where they were before the tariffs at 30 to 40 cents a Watt.” President, Diversified Solar Services Company
“There are greater economies of scale for utility scale solar than for residential or C&I. As module prices drop faster than that customer acquisition costs, utility scale will become a larger portion of the market.” President, Diversified Solar Services Company
“I am very bullish on next year. This has been the best year ever from a volume perspective, not from an income perspective, because the market is causing us to charge less.” Managing Director, Regional Bank
“Falling electricity prices aren’t leading to sponsors raising less capital, because sponsors have been beating down lenders and service providers.” Managing Director, Regional Bank
“Capital providers are taking more risk for less return.” Managing Director, Regional Bank
“Residential solar debt has become an accepted asset class.” Managing Director, Regional Bank
“Soft costs, such as marketing, legal, accounting and tax advice, are five to seven percent of a solar project’s cost in Europe and Asia; they are 35 percent of solar project’s cost here; we need to attack that.” President, Solar Developer
Continue Reading Solar Power International 2018: Soundbites
We were pleased to participate in Power Finance & Risk’s (PFR) Tax Equity Roundtable. We were joined in the roundtable discussion by Rich Dovere of C2 Energy Capital, Marshal Salant of Citi, Kathyrn Rasmussen of Capital Dynamics Clean Energy and Infrastructure, Pedro Almeida of EDP Renewables North America and as moderator PFR’s editor, Richard Metcalf. …
Mayer Brown’s David K. Burton and Jeffrey G. Davis both Tax Transactions & Consulting partners and part of the firm’s Renewable Energy group co-hosted a heavily attended webinar on how tax reform is impacting the tax equity market and certain renewable energy structures with Vadim Ovchinnikov, CFA, CPA and Gintaras Sadauskas of Alfa Energy Advisors.…
Please join Mayer Brown and Alfa Energy Advisors for a webinar. The webinar will address how tax reform is impacting the tax equity market and certain structures in particular. Additional topics include:
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Below are soundbites from panelists from the Renewable Energy Finance Forum (“REFF”) Wall Street on June 19 and 20. The mood was upbeat. There were many references to a “wall of cash chasing projects” as a metaphor for how competitive it is to win bids to finance or purchase projects.
The soundbites are edited for clarity and are organized by topic, rather than in chronological order. They were prepared without the benefit of a transcript or recording.
The topics covered include the tax equity, debt and M&A markets, C&I solar, offshore wind, bonus depreciation, storage, YieldCos and others.
Tax Equity Market
“Solar tax equity is 30 to 38 percent of the capital stack of a project. Wind tax equity is 47 to 62 percent of the capital stack of a project.” – Managing Director, Boutique Investment Bank
“We are seeing a lot more wind. We are using our tax equity capacity in wind in 2018. Solar is looking good for 2019 and beyond.” Managing Director, Trust Company
“This year we will invest more in wind than in solar.” – Managing Director, Money Center Bank
“We are seeing tax equity portfolios that are seasoned trade in a secondary market. [Generally These are tax equity portfolios] that haven’t flipped on time or that [have the benefit of material cash distributions] but not tax” credits. – Managing Director, American Multinational Financial Services Company
“There is more tax equity now than there was before tax reform.” Managing Director, REIT
“2018 is a slow down due to tax reform and tariffs.” Managing Director, National Bank
“There is a lot less tax equity capacity due to the lower tax rate.” – Managing Director, American Multi-National Investment Bank
[Explained: there may be more tax equity investors in the market than last year; however, last year the corporate tax rate was 35 percent, and this year it is 21 percent, so a typical tax equity investor has 40 percent less tax appetite (and ability to invest in tax equity) in 2018 than it did in 2017.]
“If you are in BEAT [(i.e., the base erosion anti-avoidance tax in enacted as part of 2018 tax reform)], you cannot compete in tax equity. A couple of investors were hit with BEAT and exited.” – Managing Director, American Multi-National Investment Bank
“We get ten requests for tax equity a week and say ‘yes’ to less than one a week. We have to prioritize opportunities.” – Managing Director, American Multi-National Investment Bank
Continue Reading Renewable Energy Finance Forum Wall Street Soundbites: the Tax Equity, Debt and M&A Markets, etc.
Pratt’s Energy Law Report has published our article 2018 and Onward: The Impact of Tax Reform on the Renewable Energy Market. We are pleased to be able to make a PDF version of the article available. (The article starts on page 6 of the PDF).
A Word About Wind has published our article What Is the Impact of Tax Reform on US Wind Tax Equity Deals? in its blog (subscription required) and newsletter. If you are unable to open the blog post, the text of the article is available below:
On 22 December 2017, President Trump signed the first major reform of the United States tax code since 1986. Here are some of the ramifications of the reforms on wind tax equity transactions.
Corporate Tax Rate Reduced to 21%
In 2018, the corporate tax rate has been reduced from 35% to 21%. The rate reduction means that US corporations will pay significantly less federal income tax, so the supply of tax equity will decline. However, most tax equity investors are expected to still pay enough tax to merit making tax equity investments.
Importantly, the rate reduction means sponsors of wind projects will be able to raise less tax equity as depreciation deductions are worth only $.21 per dollar of deduction rather than $.35 per dollar.
100% Bonus Depreciation
A partial mitigant to tax rate reduction is that the act provides the option of claiming 100% bonus depreciation (i.e. expensing), so depreciation deductions can be available in the first year (rather than over multiple years). However, the partnership tax accounting rules hamper the efficient use of 100% bonus depreciation.
Continue Reading What Is the Impact of Tax Reform on US Wind Tax Equity Deals?
Today, the House voted 227 to 303 in favor of the tax reform bill agreed to by the conference committee. No Democrats voted for the House bill, and 12 Republicans from high tax states voted against it. The Senate is expected to vote later this evening to approve it; it is possible that the president could sign the bill as early as tomorrow.
The enacted legislation is expected to be identical to the bill approved by the conference committee. Our analysis of the conference committee’s bill’s impact on the renewable energy market is below, which is followed by a chart that summarizes the relevant provisions in each of the three bills.
Continue Reading House Passes Tax Reform & the Impact of Tax Reform on the Renewable Energy Market
