Renewable energy

Bill makes wind and solar in Ohio competitive with neighboring states

Passed by both chambers of the Ohio legislature early morning on Friday, June 4, S.B. 232 provides tax exemptions for certain sources of new power generation. The bill was sponsored by State Senator Chris Widener and enjoyed bipartisan support. A press release from the Governor’s office makes clear he intends to sign it into law as soon as he receives it.

The new law will eliminate both the tangible personal property tax and the real property tax on new advanced energy projects. Qualified energy sources include wind, solar, and all other renewable energy resources as defined in Ohio Revised Code Section 4928, in addition to clean coal, nuclear energy, and the cogeneration of electricity from waste heat sources. To qualify, new projects involving wind, solar and other renewables must be under construction by January 1, 2012 and in service by January 1, 2013. All other qualified energy sources must be under construction by 2017.

One impetus for this change in tax treatment is that the current tangible tax rate energy companies pay is not competitive with other states. In Ohio, the tax rate for wind facilities stands at approximately $40,000 per megawatt, while solar is approximately $100,000 per megawatt. This compares to a range of $3,000 to $9,000 per megawatt in neighboring states.

The Ohio Department of Development will certify the exemption and base new payment rates (payment in lieu of taxes) on the number of Ohioans employed in the construction and installation of a qualified facility. Energy companies will have to comply with several other requirements including road repair, first responder training, and the establishment of university partnerships to promote the education, training and curriculum development of renewable energy industries.

The new rates will be as follows:

Solar – $7,000 per MW

All other facilities:

$6,000 per MW when 75% or more Ohio-domiciled employees are employed during construction and installation.
$7,000 per MW when 60% or more Ohio-domiciled employees are employed during construction and installation.
$8,000 per MW when 50% or more Ohio-domiciled employees are employed during construction and installation.

The bill also addresses Current Agricultural Use Valuation (CAUV) property and provides that the installation of an energy facility will not cause the remaining portion of a CAUV tract to be ineligible for CAUV.

The new law may signify the beginning of wind development in Ohio’s rural communities. Three wind projects have already received an Ohio Power Siting Board certificate and may be the first projects situated to apply for the new tax exemptions. Information regarding the three approved wind projects and four pending projects can be found on the Ohio Power Siting Board website.

Full text of S.B. 232 is available here.

Proposal would ensure that on-farm bioenergy activities qualify for CAUV and are exempt from zoning regulation.

A legislative proposal in the Ohio House of Representatives would include on-farm bioenergy production activities in two key provisions of Ohio law: qualification for differential tax assessment under the Current Agricultural Use Valuation program and exemption from local zoning authority. Representatives Pryor and Domenick introduced House Bill 485 in mid-April with assistance from the Ohio Department of Agriculture. The bill was referred to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, but no other action on the bill has taken place.

The proposal addresses ”biodiesel production, biomass energy production, electric or heat energy production and biologically derived methane gas production” where at least 50% of the starting material or feedstocks are from the same tract, lot or parcel on which the energy production takes place. This 50% requirement targets on-farm energy production, where a farm is producing and processing the energy inputs, as long as no more than 50% of the supplementary inputs derive from other properties.

The bioenergy production activities that meet the 50% rule would be included in the CAUV’ program’s definition of “land devoted exclusively to agricultural use” in ORC 5713.30, thus guaranteeing eligibility for the CAUV property tax rate. The bioenergy production activities would also become part of the definition of “agriculture” for purposes of county and township zoning, ORC 303.01 and ORC 519.01. Because counties and townships have limited zoning authority over “agriculture,” the proposal would ensure that a county or township could not use zoning authority to prohibit the qualifying bioenergy production activities.

H.B. 485 is available online, here.