Storage

On October 5, 2022, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued six notices requesting comments on various aspects of extensions and enhancements of energy tax benefits in the Inflation Reduction Act. Here is list of, and links to, the notices.

On the night of September 10, 2021, the House Ways and Means Committee released legislative text covering a range of green energy tax incentives, a bill that it hopes will be enacted through the budget reconciliation process and it expects to begin markup of on Tuesday, September 14. This Legal Update provides further detail on

Several recent legislative proposals would expand or enact tax credits to support energy storage, including standalone energy storage systems. We have put together a comparison of the three primary proposals under discussion in Washington that could materially shape these federal income tax credits: the Biden Administration FY 2022 Budget, the Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency

On Monday, December 21, 2020, the United States Congress passed a second large stimulus bill[1] (the “Relief Bill”) aimed at curtailing the economic disruptions caused by COVID-19. The Relief Bill, among other things, extends renewable energy tax credits for wind projects, solar projects and carbon capture and sequestration and contains specific provisions addressing offshore wind farms. These extensions include a one-year extension for wind projects, a two-year extension for solar projects and a two-year extension for carbon capture and sequestration projects. President Trump is expected to sign the Relief Bill and has until December 28, 2020 to do so, when the current stopgap funding measure expires.
Continue Reading Solar and Wind Tax Credits Extended, Again

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

Below are soundbites from panelists who spoke at Infocast’s Wind Finance & Investment Summit on February 6 and 7 in Carlsbad, CA.  The attendance at the event appeared strong, and the mood was generally optimistic.

Despite the title of the conference being wind, many of the panelists touched on solar and storage, so readers who do not work in the wind industry may nonetheless find some points of interest below.

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.

Topics covered below include the tax equity market, the 2020 soft deadline for the full production tax credit (“PTC”), the impact of the PTC phase out, PG&E’s bankruptcy, storage and more.

State of the Tax Equity Market

“There was $12 billion of combined wind and solar tax equity investment in 2018.  This up from $10 billion of tax equity investment in 2017; however, the actual new volume was down in 2018 as $3 billion of the $12 billion in 2018 was secondary market transactions” (i.e., one tax equity investor selling down to another tax equity investor).  Managing Director, Money Center Bank

“Tax equity has done well in terms of how it has worked out for the banks that invested in it.”  Tax Equity Head, Corporate Investor
Continue Reading Infocast’s Wind Finance & Investment Summit Soundbites

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

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