Bill Would Eliminate Renewable Energy Credit in Oklahoma

Proponents of renewable energy are disappointed in a bill introduced recently by a Cleveland County state representative.

Rep. Bobby Cleveland, R-Slaughterville, introduced House Bill 2908 this week to halt tax incentives for renewable resources, specifically wind power.

Cleveland’s bill would repeal Senate Bill 440, which was signed into law in 2001. At the time, SB 440 allowed zero-emission energy facilities to collect tax credits beginning in 2003. Legislation signed into law last spring created an early sunset to that tax credit, requiring wind farms to be operational by July 2017 to qualify for the state’s Zero Emission Tax Credit.

Amid Budget Shortfalls, Kansas Legislature Considers Slashing Tax Incentives for Green Energy

Renewable energy groups say two proposals in the Kansas Legislature would threaten the young industry's existence by shortening a lifetime property tax exemption for wind and solar farms and imposing a 4.33 percent excise tax on ethanol fuel and renewable electricity.

The bills emerged in hearings Monday and Wednesday after a proposal to freeze requirements for the share of renewable electricity for the grid.

New York and California pass solar policies

The federal government may be dragging its feet when it comes to renewing or extending valuable US tax incentives for renewable energy projects, but states continue to adopt innovative policies.

The latest examples comes from New York, where the governor has signed a series of solar tax exemptions, and California, which is preparing to debate legislation that would help support development of community solar projects.

New York State Adopts Solar Tax Exemptions

In New York, Governor Cuomo approved a series of measures that will ease the tax burden for individuals and businesses investing in solar energy.

Ebay installs solar panels after Utah lobbying victory

Ebay has installed its largest renewable energy project - a 665 kW solar installation at its Topaz data center in South Jordan, Utah - enabled by a recent legislative victory. Senate Bill 12, signed into law on March 21, allows companies to buy and transmit power directly from renewable energy developers. 

Ebay lobbied for the law with an association of data center professionals representing 1,000 companies in 66 countries, including Google, Oracle, Twitter and Adobe. The Utah legislation is free-market based, giving choice to major energy users when it comes to sourcing their energy, according to Mindy Lubber, president of investor advocacy organization Ceres, writing in Forbes. That reduces exposure to fossil fuel prices and increases a company's ability to control energy costs, Lubber said. 

Florida: Winners and losers - Some bills that passed, failed in the 2012 legislative session

Some bills that passed and failed in the 2012 session. Bills must be approved by Gov. Rick Scott.

RECLAIMED WATER (PASSED): Bans all five water management districts from forcing cities and utilities to give away treated water. (SB 1086/HB 639)

NUMERIC NUTRIENTS (PASSED): Allows Florida to override federal water pollution requirements and provides a flexible "threshold" standard. (SB 2060/HB 7051)

TRAIL ADS (PASSED): Allows private companies to buy ads on state trails. (SB 268/HB 181)

23 Governors, 369 orgs throw support behind four-year PTC extension bill

Most recently, a broad, nonpartisan coalition of 369 members, including manufacturing, farm and business interests, issued a letter endorsing a four-year extension to the Production Tax Credit (PTC), wind energy's key federal tax incentive. Legislation recently introduced by Representatives Dave Reichert (R, WA-08) and Earl Blumenauer (D, OR-03) seeks to grant a four-year extension to the existing PTC for wind energy (H.R. 3307, the "American Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Extension Act").

Climate policy initiative finds long-term, stable policy support key to reducing cost of financing renewable energy projects

Feed-in-Tariffs (FiTs), Feed-in-Premia (FiPs), and Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) met through long-term power or premium contracts, lowered financing costs in case studies

Climate Policy Initiative (CPI)'s analysis of six large-scale renewable projects in the United States and Europe found that policies can deliver the largest reductions in project financing costs by providing long-term revenue support, offering revenue certainty, and reducing investor perceptions of risk. CPI identified specific ways in which policies affected the cost of finance for these projects and estimated the size of these effects by modeling a range of policy scenarios for each project. The analysis found that: