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On Wednesday, February 22, the White House and the Department of Treasury issued a report entitled “The President’s Framework for Business Tax Reform.”  Among other proposals for reforming the way U.S. businesses are taxed, the report calls for a permanent extension of the Production Tax Credit (“PTC”) for renewable energy projects.  In addition, the President’s

As many of you have heard, this morning the House of Representatives passed the Senate compromise tax bill by a vote of 277-148.  The bill now goes to the President for his signature.

For the renewables industry, this is extremely good news.  The bill extends the deadline for beginning construction for the section 1603 grant

As some of you may have heard, the Senate today passed its version of the tax compromise by a vote of 81-19.  The bill includes an extension of the deadline in section 1603 for beginning construction through 2011.  The size of the majority is a strong signal to the House that the Senate may not

For those of you interested in the machinations in Congress over the tax cut extensions, especially concerning renewable energy, here is the latest:

Yesterday, the Senate released what it termed a "final compromise" bill.  That bill should be voted on in the Senate very soon.  It reflects negotiations within the Senate and between the Senate

Today, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus released their proposal for a middle class tax cut.  Although far from the final product, the bill gives us some insight into thinking on the Senate side.

From a renewable energy standpoint, the most important proposal is a one-year extension of the ITC

Updated at bottom

The following is a question I received, which I thought I would answer on the Blog:

Greg, as the expiration for the 1603 grant gets closer, two questions? 1) what are the chances of the grant being extended and 2) what are the modifications to the 1603 that you see coming January

The Treasury Department recently issued a series of FAQs in an effort to clarify when projects will be treated as having “begun construction” for purposes of the section 1603 grant. As you may be aware, a project that otherwise qualifies for the grant but is not placed in service before the end of 2010 may still be eligible for the grant if construction on the project is begun in 2009 or 2010 and the project is eventually placed in service before the applicable “credit termination date.” The new FAQs address a number of the unanswered questions. However, the framework adopted by the Treasury Guidance and the new FAQs is complex, and there appears to be a considerable amount of confusion among developers about how the “beginning construction” requirement can be met. Therefore, we thought it important to issue this alert.
Continue Reading Understanding “Beginning Construction” Under Section 1603

Proposed legislation in the Senate would greatly limit the effectiveness of the grant in lieu of tax credits for renewable energy projects under section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The section 1603 grant currently applies to renewable energy projects, such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass, that are placed in service before