Kansas Senate panel considers cutting renewable energy tax break
Such companies have been exempt from property tax since 1999. A bill discussed by the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee would instead give those companies a 10-year exemption starting with the launch date of each project.
Committee chairman Sen. Les Donovan, R-Wichita, said the bill still would provide an incentive for renewable investment but would require those companies to pay their fair share.
The Kansas Division of the Budget estimates the changes would generate less than $4,000 in additional revenue in 2016, with the amount increasing as more energy plants reach the end of their 10-year exemption period. By 2025, the taxes would generate nearly $18 million per year, most of which would fund schools.
Opponents of the bill contended that tax incentives are necessary for the industry to expand, because the technology is new and at an early stage of growth. Most companies operating renewable energy plants have also already signed contracts to share some revenue with local governments in lieu of paying taxes.
Donovan discounted the idea that Kansas would see less investment in renewable energy because of the bill.
“I’ve been told I’ve got e-mails on this issue that if we don’t continue to be very, very friendly to this type of energy production, they will just pull up and leave. All right, well don’t we have something here that they really need? It’s called wind,” Donovan said.
Kimberly Svaty, a lobbyist for the Wind Coalition, an association of renewable energy companies, said other central Plains states offer similar wind conditions as Kansas, and many developers would likely look elsewhere without the full tax incentive.
Jeff Riles, manager of regulatory affairs for Enel Green Power North America, said many renewable energy companies came to Kansas specifically because of the tax incentives. He called the proposal “a bait-and-switch.”
“To be clear, (the bill) makes doing business in Kansas completely unstable, incredibly unattractive and very costly,” Riles said.
Across the Kansas Capitol, the House Energy and Environment Committee discussed a separate bill that would halt increases to the required proportion of renewable energy that Kansas utilities use to power the electrical grid.
Current law requires that 10 percent of electricity provided by utilities companies come from renewable energy sources. That mandate is set to rise to 15 percent in 2016 and 20 percent in 2020, but the bill would eliminate those future requirements.