Renewable + Law : Renewable Energy Lawyer & Attorneys : Stoel Rives Law Firm : Climate Change, Emissions, Carbon Markets, Wind, Solar, Biofuels : Western United States

The U.S. Department of Treasury announced today that it has begun accepting applications for grants in lieu of tax credits pursuant to section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). ARRA permits an applicant to receive a Treasury Department grant rather than claiming investment tax credits (ITCs) or production tax credits (PTCs) for certain renewable energy property.

To be eligible for a grant, the property must be placed in service in 2009 or 2010, or if construction starts in 2009 or 2010, must be placed in service by the end of 2012 (for wind), 2013 (for biomass, geothermal and other resources) or 2016 (for solar). The grant amount is typically equal to the amount of the ITC for which the project owner would otherwise have qualified (for example, generally 30% of the qualified cost of the project).

The Treasury Department has also provided a means by which applications may be submitted online, as well as a form for obtaining an accountant’s certification for projects with cost bases that exceed $500,000.   For applicants who want to assign grant payments to another person, the Treasury Department provides a notice of assignment form and a link to register with the Central Contractor Registration, which is required to qualify for the grant.

To see the full client alert, visit http://www.stoel.com/showalert.aspx?Show=5779.

To see a description of ARRA and previously issued Treasury guidelines, see our previous alert at http://www.stoel.com/showalert.aspx?Show=5682.