Solar Thermal Electric

Solar Energy Sales Tax Exemption

In Minnesota, solar-energy systems purchased on or after August 1, 2005, are exempt from the state's sales tax. Solar energy systems are defined as:

"a set of devices whose primary purpose is to collect solar energy and convert and store it for useful purposes including heating and cooling buildings or other energy-using processes, or to produce generated power by means of any combination of collecting, transferring, or converting solar-generated energy." M.S. 297A.67, subd. 29.

Thus the exemption is very broad and could apply to solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems, solar water-heating systems and solar space-heating systems. All components of these systems

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Renewable Energy Production Tax Credits (Corporate)

Note: As of April 2015, capacity limits for both 476C and 476B tax credits had been reached or had applications pending approval that would result in the capacity limit being reached. Applications in excess of capacity limits will be placed on a waiting list. However, H.F. 645, enacted in June 2015 and effective beginning January 2015, added 10 MW of utility-owned (or contracted) solar for 476C eligibility. 

In June 2005, Iowa enacted legislation creating two separate production tax credit programs for energy generated by eligible wind and renewable energy facilities. An eligible facility can qualify for only one of the

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Renewable Energy Standard

NOTE: S.B. 2274, enacted in June 2022, shortens the RES to 2033, but with a target of 100% of electricity demand sourced from renewable energy. The final target created by the previous change, H.B. 7413, was 38.5% by 2035.

Rhode Island's Renewable Energy Standard (RES), established in June 2004, requires the state's retail electricity providers -- including non-regulated power producers and distribution companies -- to supply 100% of their retail electricity sales from renewable resources by 2033. The requirement began at 3% by the end of 2007, and then an increase of an additional 0.5% per year through

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Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard

Maryland's Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS), enacted in May 2004 and revised numerous times since, requires electricity suppliers (all utilities and competitive retail suppliers) in the state to procure a minimum portion of their electric retail sales by eligible renewable energy sources. Most recently, the Clean Energy Jobs Act of 2019 increased and extended the requirement from 25% by 2020 to 50% by 2030. 

Eligible technologies:

The renewable portfolio standard is divided into two tiers based on the electricity generation resource. Tier 1 renewables include solar, wind, biomass, anaerobic decomposition, geothermal, ocean, fuel cells powered through renewables, small

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Connecticut Green Power Purchase Plan

The State of Connecticut have renewable energy development initiatives including a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) and renewable energy procurement targets. By 2030, this state plans to meet 48% of their electrical demand using renewable energy. See the website for details.

History

In April 2004, Connecticut's governor signed an executive order directing state government agencies and universities to purchase an increasing amount of electricity generated by renewable resources. Under terms of the order, the state government has a goal to increase "Class I" renewable energy purchases to 20% of electricity used in 2010, 50% in 2020 and 100% in 2050. The

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Alternative Energy Sales Tax Exemption

Utah exempts the purchase or lease of equipment used to generate electricity from alternative resources from the state sales tax. Eligible purchases or leases must be made for or by an alternative energy production facility on or after July 1, 2004, and before June 30, 2027. All leases must be made for at least seven years.

Eligible  resources include wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, hydroelectricity, and energy that is derived from coal-to-liquids, nuclear fuel, oil-impregnated diatomaceous earth, oil sands, oil shale, petroleum coke, waste heat from an industrial facility, or waste heat from a power station in which an electric generator

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Green Power Purchasing Goal for Federal Government

The federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) extended and expanded several previous goals and standards to reduce energy use in existing and new federal buildings. Section 203 of EPAct 2005 required that, to the extent it is economically feasible and technically practicable, the total amount of renewable electric energy consumed by the federal government during 2013 and thereafter shall not be less than 7.5%. That target was updated and expanded by a Presidential Memorandum on December 5, 2013, and again by an Executive Order on March 19, 2015. The Executive Order established additional targets, culminating in a required

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Interconnection Standards

DC's interconnection rules apply to all distributed generation systems of 20 megawatts (MW) or smaller that are operated in parallel with the electric distribution system and are not subject to the interconnection requirements of the PJM Interconnection.

The interconnection rules set four levels of review for interconnection requests. A project must meet all of the requirements of a given classification in order to be eligible for that level of expedited review. The level of review required is generally based on system capacity, whether system components are certified, and the type of distribution circuit to which a facility will be connected

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Penelec SEF of the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies Grant Program (FirstEnergy Territory)

FirstEnergy (formerly GPU) established the Metropolitan Edison Company Sustainable Energy Fund and the Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund in 2000. The Community Foundation for the Alleghenies in Johnstown, Pennsylvania administers the Penelec loan and grant components of the Fund. The fund is administered by the Berks County Community Foundation. The majority of funding available from the fund takes the form of investments made in businesses pursuing one or more of the fund's objectives. These funds typically will be distributed as loans or equity investments, but a limited number of grants are available each year for specific purposes. The following are the

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Interconnection Standards

In November 2005, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) approved rules governing the interconnection of distributed generation (DG). Indiana's interconnection rules require the state's investor-owned utilities to provide three levels of interconnection to customer-generators.

  • Level 1: Applies to inverter-based systems with a maximum nameplate capacity of 10 kilowatts (kW). These systems must comply with IEEE 1547 and UL 1741 standards. There are no application fees or other fees for Level 1 interconnection review. Utilities may not impose additional requirements not specified in the IURC rules. There are specific limitations on a single system's potential impact and the aggregate potential impact
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