State Tax

In November 2021, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed the Reimagining Electric Vehicles Act, which establishes the Reimagining Electric Vehicles in Illinois Program to incentivize the production of electric vehicles in the state. This Mayer Brown Legal Update discusses the criteria to qualify for the program and the related tax credits, exemptions and deductions.

The split-roll initiative in California would result in major tax increases on solar projects and increase the price of green power by eliminating the concept of “new construction”, thereby making meaningless the exclusion for active solar energy systems.  Read about the initiative in this #mayerbrown client alert.

As previously discussed on this blog, Maryland, in 2017, become the first state in the county to offer an income tax credit for energy storage systems and, to our knowledge, as of 2019, it remains the only state to do so.

On February 21, 2019, the Maryland Energy Administration (“MEA”) announced that it is now accepting applications for the 2019 Maryland Energy Storage Income Tax Credit Program.
Continue Reading Maryland’s Energy Storage Tax Credit Turns Two

In September, the State of Hawaii Department of Taxation issued a letter ruling (Hawaii Letter Ruling No. 2018-01) that clarified the “placed in service” requirement in the application of the Renewable Energy Technologies Income Tax Credit (“RETITC”) in Hawaii.  A project was denied RETITC in the year when testing was conducted because the project had…

In 2017, Maryland, with Governor Larry Hogan’s (R) support, became the first state in the country to launch a tax credit program for energy storage systems.  In September, 2018, Maryland Energy Administration adopted new regulations that clarified certain qualifications of eligible systems and established procedures for individuals and businesses to apply for tax credits.

The…

Our article AZ Companies Win Preferential Tax Treatment for Solar Panels was recently published in State Tax Notes.  The article analyzes a favorable opinion by the Arizona Supreme Court in a case brought by SolarCity and SunRun.  The Arizona Supreme Court that held that an Arizona law allowing taxpayers to attribute no value for…

On May 11, 2017, Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) introduced the Offshore Wind Incentives for New Development Act or, simply, the Offshore WIND Act (here).  The Offshore WIND Act would extend the 30% investment tax credit (ITC) under Section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) for offshore wind through 2025.
Continue Reading Wind in the Sails of Offshore Wind Farms: Recent Developments in Incentives for Offshore Wind Generation

On May 4, 2017, Maryland became the first state in the country to offer a tax credit for energy storage systems with Governor Larry Hogan’s (R) signing of Senate Bill No. 758 (available here).

The law provides a tax credit for certain costs of installing an energy storage system. Energy storage systems include systems used to store electrical energy, or mechanical, chemical, or thermal energy that was once electrical energy, for use as electrical energy at a later date or in a process that offsets electricity use at peak times. The tax credit is not limited to storage systems that are charged by renewable energy sources.[1]  The tax credit is up to $5,000 for a system installed on a residential property and the lesser of $75,000 and 30 percent of the cost of the energy storage system for a system installed on a commercial property (which presumably would include a utility). The tax credit would apply to systems installed between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2022. The tax credit may only be used to offset Maryland income tax liability (i.e., it cannot be applied against other types of Maryland taxes such as excise tax) and may not be carried forward to another taxable year.  The law sets a limit of $750,000 on the aggregate tax credits issued to all taxpayers in a taxable year; such credits to be issued on a first-come, first-served basis.
Continue Reading Maryland Enacts First in the Nation Energy Storage Tax Credit

On April 17, 2017, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed into law House Bill No. 2298, which moves the deadline for a wind project to be operational to qualify for the state’s production tax credit for wind power to June 30, 2017 – three and a half years earlier than the December 31, 2020 deadline under prior law.  The state’s tax credit is a $0.0050 per kilowatt-hour credit for electricity generated by eligible zero-emission facilities.  The credit is available for 10 years from the date the project becomes operational and is refundable for up to 85 percent of its face amount.  Eligible zero-emission facilities are those located in the state that produce electricity from wind, moving water, sun or geothermal energy, and have a rated capacity of one megawatt or greater.  The bill does not change the sunset date for the credit for any type of eligible facility other than wind (i.e., the end date for solar, moving water and geothermal facilities remains at January 1, 2021).  In addition, all existing wind farms and those that are operational before July 1 of this year will continue to receive the 10-year production credit under the same terms as previous law.
Continue Reading Oklahoma State PTC Ends for Wind Projects Not Operating Prior to July 1, 2017

On March 9, 2017, Oklahoma’s House of Representatives passed H.B. 2298, which would end the Oklahoma production tax credit for wind energy production three and a half years earlier than current law. This measure was first proposed in Governor Fallin’s 2018 Executive Budget. See our prior coverage.

The bill provides a July 1, 2017 sunset date for wind facilities to be eligible for the zero-emission tax credits. Wind facilities must be placed in operation prior to that date to be eligible for the tax credits. The rate of the tax credit is unchanged at 0.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Interestingly, the early deadline only applies with respect to electricity generated by wind. The bill retains the original January 1, 2021 deadline for other zero-emission facilities, such as solar or geothermal facilities. However, the vast majority of zero-emission energy production in Oklahoma is from wind.
Continue Reading Oklahoma House Votes for Early Sunset of State Wind PTC