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IRS Releases New Guidance on Small Wind Turbine Projects

Jan 15 2015

On January 13, 2015,, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2015-4, which provides new guidance on the small wind energy project credit under Section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). In particular, the guidance provides that small wind energy projects must meet certain performance and quality standards to qualify for the credit. The official notice is scheduled to be published on January 26 in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2015-4.

Notice 2015-4 provides that Section 48-eligible property must use a wind turbine that has a nameplate capacity of not more than 100 kW and meets the performance and quality standards as set forth in either:

(1) American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) Small Wind Turbine Performance and Safety Standard 9.1-2009; or

(2) International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61400-1, 61400-12, and 61400-11.

Small wind turbines must meet the AWEA or IEC standards that are in effect at the time of acquisition of the turbine.

The manufacturer of the turbine may provide a taxpayer with a certification that the manufacturer’s turbine meets one of the standards listed above, and taxpayers may rely on such certifications when claiming the credit under Section 48. However, manufacturers should be aware that issuing erroneous certifications or failing to satisfy certain documentation requirements could trigger penalties under IRC Section 7206 (fraud and making false statements) or IRC Section 6701 (aiding and abetting an understatement of tax liability).

Notice 2015-4 is effective for small wind energy property acquired or placed in service after January 26, 2015.

Department of Commerce’s BE-13 Mandatory Survey of New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States

Jan 08 2015

New Requirement to Report Foreign Direct investment in the U.S.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce announced in September 2014 that it was reinstating a mandatory requirement that U.S. companies report new foreign investment through the filing of one of a family of survey forms designated as BE-13. BE-13 forms are filed electronically here.

Authority for the Survey

The authority for the survey is based on the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act, 90 Stat. 2059, 22 U.S.C. § 3101. The Act grants broad authority to the President “to collect information on international investment and United States foreign trade in services, whether directly or by affiliates, including related information necessary for assessing the impact of such investment and trade, to authorize the collection and use of information on direct investments owned or controlled directly or indirectly by foreign governments or persons, and to provide analyses of such information to the Congress, the executive agencies, and the general public.” 22 U.S.C. § 3101(b).

Infocast’s Corporate Energy Sourcing Summit 2015

Dec 10 2014

12-14 January 2015
The Westgate Hotel
San Diego, CA

Presenters: William H. Holmes, Paul C. Lacourciere

K&L Gates is a Platinum Sponsor at Infocast’s Corporate Energy Sourcing Summit 2015, with partner Bill Holmes leading the Summit as Chair. This event focuses on the latest intelligence on financing, business cases, risk, sourcing & sustainability from the leading market players, while evaluating business cases for new strategies and solutions including on & off-site renewables, demand response, efficiency, fuel cells and energy storage. The Summit will be a source of actionable strategies and insights from peers in other sectors including bigbox/retail, manufacturing, data centers, real estate, airports, and universities. The Summit will offer up numerous opportunities to meet key dealmakers, learn about their plans for the upcoming year, and capitalize on new prospects that will lead to successful deals.

House Tax Extenders Package Would Renew the Wind PTC and Other Energy Provisions

Dec 03 2014

Congress is poised to enact a one-year retroactive tax extenders package that would renew a variety of tax incentives—including the production tax credit (PTC) for wind—through the end of 2014. On Wednesday, December 3, the House passed the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 (H.R. 5771) by a vote of 378-46, sending the bill to the Senate for its consideration before the end of the Lame Duck session. Read More

Renewable Energy Tax Incentives At Risk in Lame Duck

Nov 11 2014

Tax incentives for renewable energy could be at serious risk in Congress’ upcoming lame duck session. Reports indicate that Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) and other conservatives plan to try to block renewable incentives from being included in a year-end “tax extenders” package. Read More

2014 Election Guide: A Guide to Changes in Congress

Nov 05 2014

Riding a wave of voter discontent, Republicans in the mid-term election took control of the U.S. Senate and increased their majority in the House. The results offer an opportunity for collaboration between the Congress and the Obama Administration, and to restart the legislative process.

To help you assess yesterday’s election, K&L Gates has prepared a comprehensive guide that summarizes the results and their impact on the 114th Congress, which will convene in January. The Election Guide lists all new members elected to Congress, updates the congressional delegations for each state, and provides a starting point for assessing the coming changes to the House and Senate committees.

Please click here to download the most up-to-date version of the 130 page Election Guide, which will be updated on an ongoing basis as more of the close races are called and committees are finalized. For additional information regarding the effects of the recent elections, please contact Tim Peckinpaugh or any member of the Public Policy and Law practice.

To view the complete guide online, click here.

Additional Resources

Further insights on the implications of the mid-term elections can be found in two recent webinars featuring members of the K&L Gates policy team. See the links below.

The Mid-Term Elections: What They Mean for Major National Policies

Election 2014: Its Impact on Federal Policy-Making in 2015

California To Reduce Power Demand Through New Demand Response Program

Oct 21 2014

In late August 2014, the California Assembly and Senate unanimously voted in favor of Senate Bill 1414 (“SB 1414”), which was introduced by Senator Lois Wolk and co-authored by Assembly Members, Kevin Mullin and Das Williams[1]. On September 29, 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 1414 into law. SB 1414 requires utilities to adjust their resource adequacy[2] plans and utilize cost-effective demand response (“DR”) programs to change their demand for electricity during key times. In exchange for adjusting their electricity consumption, participating DR customers will receive incentives for providing a clean resource to the grid. The reduced demand for electricity will require less generation, which in turn will reduce the need for new power plants and help integrate renewable sources of energy. Read More

Blumenauer Introduces Energy Tax Extenders Bill, Includes a Sought-After Amendment for Solar

Sep 24 2014

On Thursday, September 18, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) led a group of 18 House Democrats in introducing the Bridge to a Clean Energy Future Act of 2014 (H.R. 5559). The bill would extend several energy tax incentives—many of which Congress allowed to expire at the end of 2013—through the end of 2015. The bill would also extend the production tax credit (PTC), as well as the election to receive an investment tax credit (ITC) in lieu of the PTC, for facilities producing energy from renewable resources through the end of 2016. Read More

Phase I of CA 2030 Low Carbon Grid Study Completed: 50% GHG Reduction Feasible; Energy Storage to Play a Key Role

Sep 04 2014

Last week, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) began releasing the results of Phase I of the California 2030 Low-Carbon Grid Study, which is designed to show how the electric sector can most cost-effectively support California’s ambitious GHG emissions goals. The study is generally referred to as the “Low Carbon Grid Study” or “LCGS” by NREL and the approximately 30 companies, foundations and trade associations that participated in the study. Read More

Energy Storage RFPs May Spread to Oregon

Aug 25 2014

The Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) recently announced that it is considering issuing a solicitation for demonstration electrical energy storage projects in late 2014. To prepare for possible funding opportunities, ODOE seeks public comments about the “scope, number and priority” of proposals that use “electrical storage technology, specifically batteries” to provide resiliency and regulation. ODOE noted that potential proposals may include, among others, projects that support transmission system devices such as static var compensators, projects that would be co-located with renewable energy generation where there are transmission constraints, projects that would provide stabilization to industrial facilities during outages, and projects that would co-locate renewable energy generation with distributed energy storage.

ODOE also seeks comment on the selection criteria that it has preliminarily identified, which include the sponsor’s ability to secure adequate funding for project implementation, the project’s commercial viability, the sponsor’s willingness to allow multiple public entities to collect data from the project for a year after commissioning, “integrity benefits” to the distribution or transmission system, and “resiliency benefits” to emergency service providers or critical services.

ODOE also seeks comments on whether it should prioritize geographic areas in Oregon that would benefit from grid improvements, whether it should prefer certain parties (such as small utilities) as grant recipients, whether it should give preference to certain technologies, what kind of transparency and data requirements should be used, and how a pilot energy storage project could be used to support standards development.

ODOE’s “Comment Opportunity” can be found here. Comments are due on August 29.

The agency’s request for comments is an outgrowth of an energy storage workshop co-hosted by ODOE and the Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC) in Portland in March 2014. I attended the workshop, and found it very informative. The morning session of the workshop featured panels that discussed a range of energy storage technologies and their potential applications. During the afternoon session, participants broke into groups for roundtable discussions on various topics. ODOE and OPUC did a good job of reducing the proceedings to writing—you can find summaries of the Roundtable sessions and the presentations here. These materials provide useful background on how ODOE and OPUC are thinking about the development of energy storage in Oregon.

ODOE’s ability to proceed with the solicitation appears to be conditioned on what the agency describes as a “potential partnership” with U.S. Department of Energy, Sandia National Laboratories and the Clean Energy States Alliance. Whether this particular solicitation materializes or not, Oregon is now among a number of states such as California, Hawaii and New York that are recognizing the important role that energy storage will play in electric power supply, delivery, and security in the years ahead.

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