Solar Thermal Process Heat

Renewable Energy Goal

Note: In May 2015, S.B. 91 was enacted, changing the renewable energy standard to a voluntary goal.

In May 2009, the Kansas Legislature enacted the Renewable Energy Standards Act (H.B. 2369), creating a state renewable portfolio standard (RPS). The Kansas RPS required the state's investor-owned utilities and electric cooperatives to generate or purchase 20% of the affected utility's peak demand from eligible renewable resources for each calendar year beginning in 2020. (According to the American Wind Energy Association, Kansas generated 21.7% of its electricity from wind energy in 2014.)

In May 2015, S.B. 91 was enacted, changing the

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Renewable Energy Sales and Use Tax Abatement

New or expanded businesses in Nevada may apply to the Director of the State Office of Energy for a sales and use tax abatement for qualifying renewable energy technologies. The purchaser is only required to pay sales and use taxes imposed in Nevada at the rate of 2.6%. The abatement is valid for three years beginning with the approval of the application.

The abatement applies to property used to generate electricity from renewable energy resources including solar, wind, biomass*, fuel cells, geothermal or hydro. Generation facilities must have a capacity of at least 10 megawatts (MW). Facilities that use solar

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Renewable Energy Sales Tax Exemptions

Wisconsin has two sales tax exemptions that apply to renewable energy. Legislation enacted in 1979 exempts wood sold as a fuel for residential use from the state sales and use tax (Wis. Stat. § 77.54(30)). Residential use means use in a structure or portion of a structure which is the person's permanent residence. A clause was added in 2007 expanding the exemption to include sales of all biomass -- as defined in Wis. Stat. § 196.378 (1) (ar) -- used as fuel for residential use. This definition includes wood, energy crops, biological wastes, biomass residues, and landfill gas.

The original

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Renewable Energy Renaissance Zones

In 2006, Michigan enacted legislation allowing for the creation of Renewable Energy Renaissance Zones (RERZ). Renaissance zones offer significant tax benefits to facilities located within their boundaries. Facilities within a renaissance zone do not pay the Michigan Business Tax*, state education tax, personal and real property taxes, or local income taxes (where applicable). These taxes may be abated for up to 15 years, with the abatements being phased out in 25% increments over the last three years of the zone designation. For residents of renaissance zones designated before 2012, taxpayers are exempt from paying certain income taxes, if they

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Property Tax Exemption for Renewable Energy Systems

In October 2008, New Jersey enacted legislation exempting renewable energy systems used to meet on-site electricity, heating, cooling, or general energy needs from local property taxes. (There is not a state component to property taxes in New Jersey). Eligible renewable energy systems* include solar PV, wind, fuel cells, sustainable biomass, geothermal electric, landfill gas, hydroelectric, resource recovery, wave, and tidal systems that produce electricity. Systems that produce energy from solar thermal energy (e.g., solar hot water) or geothermal energy (e.g., geothermal heat pumps) are also eligible for the exemption. The exemption may be claimed for all qualified systems installed on

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U.S. Department of Energy - Loan Guarantee Program

Note: The Inflation Reduction Act (H.R. 5376) made several changes to this program. It appropriated approximately $11.7 billion in total for the Loan Programs Office (LPO) to support issuing new loans. This, in turn, increased the loan authority in LPO’s existing loan programs by approximately $100 billion. The Inflation Reduction Act also adds a new loan program, the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) Program (section 1706), to help retool, repower, repurpose, or replace energy infrastructure that has ceased operations or to improve the efficiency of infrastructure that is currently operating. 

Title 17 Program

Section 1703 of Title 17 of

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Puerto Rico - Excise Tax Exemption for Farmers

In Puerto Rico, "bona fide farmers" are exempted from paying all types of excises for equipment, articles and objects whose operation depend solely on solar, wind, hydro or any other type of power, excluding the power produced by petroleum and its derivatives. A "bona fide farmer" is generally defined as a farmer certified by the government and who derives at least 50% of his or her gross income from the agricultural business as an operator, owner or lessee as declared in his or her income tax return.
It should be noted that that this exemption is part of a larger

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Fort Collins - Green Building Requirement for City-Owned Buildings

The City Council of Fort Collins passed a resolution in September 2006 establishing green building goals for new city-owned buildings of 5,000 square feet or more. New buildings must be designed and constructed to achieve US Green Building Council LEED Gold certification, and existing buildings are to use the LEED standard as a guide for sustainable operation and maintenance, though no specific requirements are established.

To control the construction and design costs associated with new buildings meeting this standard, the goal of Gold can be reduced to Silver for projects where the payback period for earning Gold certification is ten

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Property Tax Abatement for Production and Manufacturing Facilities

In May 2007, Montana enacted legislation (H.B. 3) that allows a property tax abatement for new renewable energy production facilities, new renewable energy manufacturing facilities, and renewable energy research and development equipment. Eligible facilities and equipment are assessed at 50% of their taxable value.

Qualifying renewable energy manufacturing facilities are those that (1) produce materials, components or systems to convert solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas or waste heat resources into useful energy, and (2) whose annual production of renewable energy equipment makes up at least half of the facility's total production. Fuel cells and components of fuel cells that generate

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Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard

Note: S.B. 678 of 2023 amended North Carolina's Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS), recasting it as a Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (CEPS). The definition of a "clean energy resource" in S.B. 678 includes renewable energy resources, fusion energy resources, and nuclear energy resources, including an uprate to a nuclear energy facility. 

North Carolina's Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (CEPS), originally established as a Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS) by Senate Bill 3 in August 2007, requires all investor-owned utilities in the state to supply 12.5% of 2020 retail electricity

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