Category — Tax, Structure & Financing

In a recently decided case, the United States Court of Federal Claims held that Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 compels the United States Treasury Department (“Treasury”) to award cash grants in lieu of renewable energy tax credits under the Section 1603 program to qualified applicants. Treasury has no discretion to refuse to award a grant to an applicant that has met all statutory requirements for the program. [Read more →]

Businesses typically are allowed to deduct the costs of capital expenditures over time according to various depreciation schedules. In 2008, 2009 and 2010 businesses were allowed to deduct 50 percent of the cost of eligible property (generally, tangible personal property with recovery periods of 20 years or less) in the year of acquisition. The recently enacted Tax Relief Act of 2010 extends the first-year 50% write-off for eligible property placed in service during 2011 and 2012 (and in 2013 for aircraft and certain long-term-production-period property), and provides a new first-year 100% write off for certain property placed in service in 2011. [Read more →]

On December 17, President Obama signed into law H.R. 4583, The Tax Relief; Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the “Act”) extending for two years the Bush-era individual income tax rate cuts.  The Act also extends a number of energy related incentives that were set to expire at the end of this year.  The most significant is a one-year extension of the deadline to begin construction of “specified energy property” for purposes of the Treasury cash grant provisions enacted by Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  In addition, the Act extends 50 percent bonus depreciation for two years (for qualifying property placed in service before January 1, 2013), and allows 100 percent bonus depreciation for qualified property placed in service after September 8, 2010, and before January 1, 2012. [Read more →]

As published by the National Law Journal Online (http://www.nlj.com)

Two major stimulus packages spawned by the financial crisis have reshaped the federal policy landscape for renewable power. Most notably, qualifying solar, wind and other renewable energy-generation projects can choose either a 30% investment tax credit or a 30% cash grant in lieu of the ITC (the Treasury Grant Program). Wind and other nonsolar projects formerly eligible only for the production tax credit can for a limited time elect any of the PTC, the ITC or the Treasury cash grant. [Read more →]

Article written by New York partner Philip H. Spector
Public Utilities Fortnightly
October 2010

“Many public utilities have entered into long-term power-purchase agreements for power produced by wind, solar, biomass and geothermal projects. Some utilities have embraced these technologies and taken on ownership and operation of renewable assets. [Read more →]