Thompson, Coons, Moran, Poe Bill Will Level the Playing Field for Renewable Energy
(Real Estate Rama) Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act would give renewable energy projects access to a tax advantage currently available only to oil, gas, and coal projects
U.S. Representatives Mike Thompson (D-CA-05) and Ted Poe (R-TX-02), and Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) today re-introduced bipartisan legislation to level the energy playing field by giving investors in renewable energy projects access to a decades-old corporate structure whose tax advantage is currently available only to investors in fossil fuel-based energy projects.
The Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act is a straightforward, powerful modification of the federal tax code that could unleash significant private capital by helping additional energy-generation and renewable fuel companies form master limited partnerships, which combine the funding advantages of corporations and the tax advantages of partnerships.
“We need to take an all-of-the-above approach to America’s energy future,” said Representative Thompson. “This bipartisan bill will make it easier and more attractive for private capital to be invested in renewable energy. By leveling the playing field and treating renewable energy the same way we do oil and gas, we can create jobs, strengthen our national security, reduce our dependency on foreign oil and move closer to energy independence.”
“Renewable energy technologies have made tremendous progress in the last several decades, and they deserve the same shot at success in the market as traditional energy projects,” Senator Coons said….
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A master limited partnership (MLP) is a business structure that is taxed as a partnership, but whose ownership interests are traded like corporate stock on a market.
By statute, MLPs have only been available to investors in energy portfolios for oil, natural gas, coal extraction and pipeline projects.
These projects get access to capital at a lower cost and are more liquid than traditional financing approaches to energy projects, making them highly effective at attracting private investment. Investors in renewable energy projects, however, have been explicitly prevented from forming MLPs, starving a fast growing portion of America’s domestic energy sector of the capital it needs to build and grow.
Newly eligible power generation from renewables, renewable fuels, and related energy activities: Solar (PV and CSP), Wind, Hydropower, Marine/Hydrokinetic, Fuel Cells, Electricity Storage, Combined Heat and Power, Biomass, Waste Heat to Power, Renewable Fuels, Biodiesel, Biorefineries, Energy Efficient Buildings, Carbon Capture and Storage. READ MORE and MORE (Ethanol Producer Magazine)
