Filed under: CleanTech, Sustainability | Tags: Alternative Energy, Incentives, IRS, Renewable Energy, Sustainability Practices, Tax Credits
The IRS released Notice 2013-29 (Notice) on April 15th providing much anticipated guidance on methods for establishing “Beginning Construction” for purposes of qualifying renewable facilities for the renewable electricity production tax credit (PTC) under Section 45 or the energy investment tax credit (ITC) under Section 48. The PTC is based on the amount of electricity sold to an unrelated taxpayer that is produced at a qualified renewable energy facility (including a wind facility) over a 10-year period beginning on the date the facility is placed in service. Over the 10 years, the owners of the qualified facilities are able to offset federal taxes due with the credits generated from the sale of this electricity. The ITC provides a tax credit equal to 30 percent of the qualified basis of the energy property. As discussed on January 2nd in this blog, the “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012” extended the provisions of the PTC and ITC for qualified facilities by requiring the facility to be placed in service or to have “begun construction” before January 1, 2014. The “beginning construction” language was new to the PTC and guidance from the IRS was needed in short order for developers to qualify this year. (more…)
Filed under: CleanTech, Climate Change, Sustainability | Tags: Alternative Energy, Alternative Fuel, Incentives, IRS, Renewable Energy, Solar, Sustainability Practices, Tax Credits
As discussed previously in the blog, Section 48 generally allows for an investment tax credit for qualified energy property, which includes equipment that uses solar energy to generate electricity. Section 50(b)(3) provides that no investment credit, which includeS the Section 48 investment tax credit, “shall be determined . . . with respect to any property used by an organization . . . which is exempt from the tax imposed.” In the past, this provision has deterred investment into significant solar projects that involved various tax-exempt and governmental bodies. It also deterred tax credit investors from purchasing partnership interests in tribal energy projects owned by Native American tribes as they were thought to be ineligible to pass-through the investment credits to investors. (more…)
Filed under: CleanTech, Climate Change, Green Building, Sustainability | Tags: DOE, Energy Star, Green Building, Renewable Energy, Standards, Sustainability Practices, Wind
The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced that it has launched a “Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative.” This is a combined effort of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy and DOE Advanced Manufacturing Office. The initiative has the two pronged objective of increasing U.S. manufacturing competitiveness (1) in the production of clean energy products, and (2) by increasing energy productivity. (more…)
Filed under: CleanTech, Climate Change, Sustainability | Tags: Events, Waste-to-Energy
A recent report found that the amount of waste incinerated by waste-to-energy plants grew 9 percent between 2007 and 2010 and that the value of this global market will reach $7.4 billion in 2013.
Pepper Hamilton LLP and Deloitte Financial Advisory Services are co-sponsoring a webinar on Hot Topics for Waste-to-Energy Investors and Developers – Part 2 – on Wednesday, April 10 at 12-1:30 pm EDT. (more…)
Filed under: Sustainability | Tags: Alternative Energy, Incentives, IRS, Production Tax Credit, Renewable Energy
On April 3, the IRS released its inflation factors for calculating the production tax credit in 2013. The credit for renewable electricity production for calendar year 2013 is 2.3 cents per kilowatt hour (increased from 2.2 cents per hour) on the sale of electricity produced from the qualified energy resources of (more…)
Filed under: Green Building | Tags: ASHRAE, Green Building, LEED V4, LEED®, Standards, Sustainability Practices, USGBC
LEED V4 is the most recent update to the LEED rating systems. There are 23 credits with substantive changes, with primary changes in three categories: new market sectors, increased technical rigor and streamlined services. In order to vote on the proposed changes, (more…)
Filed under: Marcellus Shale | Tags: Marcellus Shale, S.B. 258, Senate Bill 258, subsurface rights
Pennsylvania is considering a bill, Senate Bill 258, that would create a presumption of abandonment for certain subsurface rights if those rights are not exercised for 50 years. S.B. 258 provides that the failure of a person claiming to hold the subsurface rights, other than the surface owner of the real property, to exercise the subsurface rights for a period in excess of 50 years creates a rebuttable presumption that the subsurface rights have been abandoned in favor of the surface owner. (more…)
