HOUSE BILL 277

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2010

INTRODUCED BY

Mary Helen Garcia

AN ACT

RELATING TO TAXATION; PROVIDING GROSS RECEIPTS AND COMPENSATING TAX DEDUCTIONS FOR QUALIFIED GENERATING FACILITIES; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     Section 1. A new section of the Gross Receipts and Compensating Tax Act is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] ADVANCED ENERGY DEDUCTION--GROSS RECEIPTS AND COMPENSATING TAXES.--

          A. Receipts that are eligible generation plant costs that are from selling tangible personal property or services to a person that holds an interest in a qualified generating facility may be deducted from gross receipts if the holder of the interest delivers a nontaxable transaction certificate to the seller. The department shall issue a nontaxable transaction certificate to a person that holds an interest in a qualified generating facility upon presentation to the department of a certificate of eligibility obtained from the department of environment pursuant to Subsection C of this section for the deduction created in this section. The deduction created in this section may be referred to as the "advanced energy deduction".

          B. The value of eligible generation plant costs from the sale of tangible personal property to a person that holds an interest in a qualified generating facility for which the department of environment has issued a certificate of eligibility under Subsection C of this section may be deducted in computing the compensating tax due.

          C. An entity that holds an interest in a qualified generating facility may request a certificate of eligibility from the department of environment to enable the requester to obtain a nontaxable transaction certificate for the advanced energy deduction. The department of environment shall:

                (1) determine if the facility is a qualified generating facility;

                (2) require that the requester provide the department of environment with the information necessary to assess whether the requester's facility meets the criteria to be a qualified generating facility;

                (3) issue a certificate to the requester stating that the facility is or is not a qualified generating facility within one hundred eighty days after receiving all information necessary to make a determination;

                (4) issue:

                     (a) rules governing the procedures for administering the provisions of this subsection; and

                     (b) a schedule of fees in which no fee exceeds one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000);

                (5) deposit fees collected pursuant to this subsection in the state air quality permit fund created pursuant to Section 74-2-15 NMSA 1978; and

                (6) report annually to the appropriate interim legislative committee information that will allow the legislative committee to analyze the effectiveness of the advanced energy deduction, including the identity of qualified generating facilities, the energy production means used, the amount of emissions identified in this section reduced and removed by those qualified generating facilities and whether any requests for certificates of eligibility could not be approved due to program limits.

          D. The advanced energy deduction allowed pursuant to this section shall not be claimed for the same qualified expenses for which a taxpayer claims a credit pursuant to Section 7-9G-2 NMSA 1978 or a deduction pursuant to Section 7-9-54.3 NMSA 1978.

          E. As used in this section:

                (1) "coal-based electric generating facility" means a new or recovered generating facility and an associated coal gasification facility, if any, that uses coal to generate electricity and that meets the following specifications:

                     (a) emits the lesser of: 1) what is achievable with the best available control technology; or 2) thirty-five thousandths pound per million British thermal units of sulfur dioxide, twenty-five thousandths pound per million British thermal units of oxides of nitrogen and one hundredth pound per million British thermal units of total particulate in the flue gas;

                     (b) removes the greater of: 1) what is achievable with the best available control technology; or 2) ninety percent of the mercury from the input fuel;

                     (c) captures and sequesters or controls carbon dioxide emissions so that by the later of January 1, 2017 or eighteen months after the commercial operation date of the coal-based electric generating facility, no more than one thousand one hundred pounds per megawatt-hour of carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere;

                     (d) all infrastructure required for sequestration is in place by the later of January 1, 2017 or eighteen months after the commercial operation date of the coal-based electric generating facility;

                     (e) includes methods and procedures to monitor the disposition of the carbon dioxide captured and sequestered from the coal-based electric generating facility; and

                     (f) does not exceed a name-plate capacity of seven hundred net megawatts;

                (2) "eligible generation plant costs" means expenditures for the development and construction of a qualified generating facility, including permitting; site characterization and assessment; engineering; design; carbon dioxide capture, treatment, compression, transportation and sequestration; site and equipment acquisition; and fuel supply development used directly and exclusively in a qualified generating facility;

                (3) "entity" means an individual, estate, trust, receiver, cooperative association, club, corporation, company, firm, partnership, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, joint venture, syndicate or other association or a gas, water or electric utility owned or operated by a county or municipality;

                (4) "geothermal electric generating facility" means a facility with a name-plate capacity of one megawatt or more that uses geothermal energy to generate electricity, including a facility that captures and provides geothermal energy to a preexisting electric generating facility using other fuels in part;

                (5) "interest in a qualified generating facility" means title to a qualified generating facility; a lessee's interest in a qualified generating facility; and a county or municipality's interest in a qualified generating facility when the county or municipality issues an industrial revenue bond for construction of the qualified generating facility;

                (6) "name-plate capacity" means the maximum rated output of the facility measured as alternating current or the equivalent direct current measurement;

                (7) "qualified generating facility" means a facility that begins construction not later than December 31, 2015 and is:

                     (a) a solar thermal electric generating facility that begins construction on or after July 1, 2007 and that may include an associated renewable energy storage facility;

                     (b) a solar photovoltaic electric generating facility that begins construction on or after July 1, 2009 and that may include an associated renewable energy storage facility;

                     (c) a geothermal electric generating facility that begins construction on or after July 1, 2009;

                     (d) a recycled energy project if that facility begins construction on or after July 1, 2007; or

                     (e) a new or recovered coal-based electric generating facility and an associated coal gasification facility;

                (8) "recycled energy" means energy produced by a generation unit with a name-plate capacity of not more than fifteen megawatts that converts the otherwise lost energy from the exhaust stacks or pipes to electricity without combustion of additional fossil fuel;

                (9) "sequester" means to store, or chemically convert, carbon dioxide in a manner that prevents its release into the atmosphere and may include the use of geologic formations and enhanced oil, coaled methane or natural gas recovery techniques;

                (10) "solar photovoltaic electric generating facility" means an electric generating facility with a name-plate capacity of one megawatt or more that uses solar photovoltaic energy to generate electricity; and

                (11) "solar thermal electric generating facility" means an electric generating facility with a name-plate capacity of one megawatt or more that uses solar thermal energy to generate electricity, including a facility that captures and provides solar thermal energy to a preexisting electric generating facility using other fuels in part."

     Section 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2010.

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