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Panel Backs Tax Breaks for Alternative Energy by Jeff Mapes, Staff Reporter The Oregonian, February 28, 2001

A Senate committee wants to give consumers more incentives
to use wind, solar and fuel-cell power

SALEM -- With the region's energy crisis as a backdrop, the Senate Revenue Committee on Tuesday approved two bills that extend and expand the state's tax breaks for alternative energy.

The measures continue tax incentives for business and residential use of energy systems based on such things as wind and solar power. They also expand the tax breaks for fuel cells, which many say could eventually become an important source of electricity for residences.

Fuel cells, used for more than 30 years to power NASA's spacecraft, mix hydrogen and water to produce electricity. They can be powered by a variety of fuels and operate at high efficiency without air pollution.

"I think at some point, every home is going to have one," said Senate Revenue Chairman Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, an enthusiast of the technology.

Senate Bill 520 makes permanent the state's energy income tax credit, scheduled to expire at the end of this year. That program provides as much as $1,500 in tax credits for the residential installation of alternative energy devices. The measure also extends the property-tax exemption for alternative energy and makes fuel cells eligible for the exemption.

The other measure, Senate Bill 521, allows businesses to speed up the use of tax credits for the installation of fuel cells. It also broadens the current tax credits for employers that provide transit passes to employees. Under the bill, employers could claim the credits for transit passes to medical patients, students and others.

Together, the two bills would cost the state an estimated $2.7 million in lost revenue in the 2001-03 budget cycle. The measures are supported by Gov. John Kitzhaber, but they could get caught up in the state's budget crunch.

Rep. Ben Westlund, R-Bend, the budget committee chairman for the House, said his panel will have to wait until near the end of the session to see which tax credits the state can afford. One group lobbying for the measure is the Idaho Power Company, which has a Bend-based subsidiary, IdaTech, that manufactures fuel cells.