Rebates

Maine's public benefits fund for renewable energy was established as part of the state's electric industry restructuring legislation, enacted in May 1997. The law directed the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to develop a voluntary program allowing customers to contribute to a fund that supports renewable energy projects. The fund is now part of the Efficiency Maine Trust. 

Funding Sources

The PUC adopted rules requiring the state's utilities to offer customers the option of supporting the fund by checking off a contribution of $1, $5, $10, or other amount each month on their electric bill. Every six months, each utility

North Dakota exempts from local property taxes any locally-assessed* solar, wind, or geothermal energy device serving a new or existing building or structure. These systems may be designed to provide heating or cooling or to produce mechanical power, or any combination of these, or to store any of these. Stand-alone systems and systems that are part of conventional systems are eligible. For solar, wind, or geothermal systems that are part of a conventional energy system, only the renewable energy portion of the total system is eligible. This exemption is applied only during the 5-year period following installation. To apply for

Montana's property tax exemption for recognized non-fossil forms of energy generation and low emission wood or biomass combustion devices may be claimed for 10 years after installation of the property. The exemption is allowed for up to $20,000 in value for single-family residential dwellings and up to $100,000 in value for multi-family residential dwellings or non-residential structures. This property is class 4 property and otherwise would be taxed on 2.54% of assessed value in tax year 2013 and 2.47% in tax years after 2013.

Recognized forms of energy generation include solar photovoltaics, passive solar, wind, solid waste, decomposition of organic

Massachusetts offers a corporate income tax deduction for (1) any income -- including royalty income -- received from the sale or lease of a U.S. patent deemed beneficial for energy conservation or alternative energy development by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, and (2) any income received from the sale or lease of personal or real property or materials manufactured in Massachusetts and subject to the approved patent. The deduction is effective for up to five years from the date of issuance of the U.S. patent or the date of approval by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, whichever expires

Massachusetts law provides that solar energy systems and wind energy systems or solar and wind systems that are co-located with an energy storage system that meet the following criteria are exempt from local property tax for a 20-year period: can produce at most 125% of the annual electricity needs of the real property; has a system capacity that is 25 kW or less; or an individual system -- or a combination therein -- that entered into an agreement for payment in lieu of taxes associated with the municipality that the system is located in. A period greater than 20 years

Colorado became the first state in the U.S. to enact a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) by ballot initiative (i.e., via an initiated state statute) when voters approved the Colorado Renewable Energy Requirement Initiative, also known as Amendment 37, in November 2004. Each qualifying retail utility is required to generate or cause to be generated electricity from eligible energy resources in the following proportions of its retail electricity sales for 2020 and each year thereafter: 30% for each investor-owned utility (IOU), 20% for each electric cooperative serving 100,000 meters or more, and 10% for each electric cooperative serving less than

Arizona provides a sales tax exemption* for the retail sale of solar energy devices and for the installation of solar energy devices by contractors. The statutory definition of "solar energy device" includes wind electric generators and wind-powered water pumps in addition to daylighting, passive solar heating, active solar space heating, solar water heating, and solar photovoltaics. The sales tax exemption does not apply to batteries, controls, etc., that are not part of the system. (Note that H.B. 2429, enacted in June 2006, eliminated the $5,000 limit per device.)

S.B. 1229 of 2012 extended this exemption to net metering transactions

Created by the Alaska State Legislature and administered by the Alaska Energy Authority, this fund provides loans to electric utilities, regional electric utilities, municipalities, regional and village corporations, village councils, and independent power producers. It is designed for the development or upgrade of small-scale power production facilities of less than 10 megawatts, conservation facilities, and bulk fuel storage facilities. This includes energy production, transmission and distribution, and waste energy conservation facilities that depend on fossil fuel, wind power, tidal, geothermal, biomass, hydroelectric, solar or other energy sources.

The loan term is related to the life of the project, but may

Note: According to the 2025 Renewable Energy Plan, in 2024, City of Columbus Utilities purchased or generated 22.82% of its total electric usage through renewable energy sources. 

In November 2004, voters in Columbia, Missouri, approved* a proposal to adopt a local renewable portfolio standard (RPS). (The state renewable electricity standard adopted by ballot initiative in November 2008 does not apply to municipal utilities such as Columbia Water & Light.) The city's municipal utility Columbia Water & Light is required to generate or purchase 30% of its electricity from eligible renewable energy resources by the end of 2028. Nearly 7%

Grays Harbor PUD's net metering program differs slightly from what is required by Washington state law in that Grays Harbor PUD reimburses customers for net excess generation (NEG), at 50% of the utility's retail rate. Grays Harbor PUD customers can bank net excess generation every month. If the excess generation is greater than the utilities service charge then the utility reimburses the customer, if it is less than the service charge it is credited to the customers account at the end of the 12-month billing cycle on March 31. State law allows utilities to require customers to surrender NEG to