Bipartisan bill aims to expand renewable financing

OREANDA-NEWS. June 26, 2015. A bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers yesterday reintroduced legislation to help renewable energy projects to establish master limited partnerships (MLPs).

US senators Chris Coons (D-Delaware) and Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), along with representatives Ted Poe (R-Texas) and Mike Thompson (D-California) reintroduced their MLP Parity Act. The legislation would amend the federal tax code to allow renewable energy developers to form MLPs, a business structure that is now only available to fossil fuel-based projects. The lawmakers say that this tax code change "could unleash significant private capital into the energy market" and "level the playing field" between energy sources.

"It is about getting government out of the business of picking winners and losers in the energy industry, a goal that unites Democrats, Republicans and independents," Coons said.

An MLP is a financial structure that is taxed as a partnership, with ownership interests traded on a market. The bill would expand the list of eligible projects to include renewable resources such as wind, solar, biomass, fuel cells, hydropower, municipal solid waste, combined heat and power, waste-to-power, carbon capture and storage and energy efficiency. Renewable fuel projects for transport, including cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel and algae-based fuels, would also be eligible.

The Senate bill is cosponsored by senators Michael Bennet (D-Colorado), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Cory Gardner (R-Colorado), Angus King (I-Maine) Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan). House bill cosponsors are representatives Mark Amodei (R-Nevada), Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), Mike Coffman (R-Colorado), Paul Gosar (R-Arizona), Jerry McNerney (D-California) and Peter Welch (D-Vermont).

Coons and a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced similar legislation in April 2013, but it did not advance out of committee.

About 35 companies, associations and advocacy groups endorsed the bill, including Duke Energy, First Solar and NRG Energy.