IRS Extends Safe Harbor Provisions to Nonqualifying Facility Transfers

Notice 2001-82 applies to transfers of property to regulated public utilities through interconnection agreements completed after December 24, 2001. For transfers of interties before December 24, 2001, taxpayers may request application of the notice through a request for a private letter ruling.

PURPOSE

[1] This notice amplifies and modifies Notice 88-129, 1988-2 C.B. 541, as modified and amplified by Notice 90-60, 1990-2 C.B. 345. Notice 88-129 provides that a regulated public utility (utility) will not realize income upon transfers of interties from qualifying small power producers and qualifying cogenerators (collectively, Qualifying Facilities), as defined in section 3 of the Federal Power Act, as amended by section 201 of the Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA). This notice extends the safe harbor provisions of Notice 88-129 to include transfers of interties from non-Qualifying Facilities. The safe harbor also is extended to transactions in which there is not a long-term power purchase contract between the utility and the power producer but rather the intertie is transferred pursuant to a long-term interconnection agreement and in which the intertie is used exclusively to transmit power across the utility's transmission grid for sale to consumers or intermediaries.

BACKGROUND

[2] At the time Notice 88-129 was issued, most generators that were not owned by regulated public utilities (stand-alone generators) were Qualifying Facilities for regulatory purposes. As a stand-alone generator, the Qualifying Facility had to be connected to a utility's transmission lines in order to move its power to market. PURPA required that a utility interconnect with a Qualifying Facility for the purpose of allowing the sale of power produced by the Qualifying Facility. A Qualifying Facility generally sold its electricity under a long-term power purchase contract to the local utility with whom it was interconnecting at the utility's avoided cost. A Qualifying Facility also arranged in certain cases for the interconnected utility to transmit electricity across its transmission grid for sale to another utility (wheeling) at that utility's avoided cost.

[3] Deregulation of the electric power industry has significantly changed the operation of the industry. Today, few new stand-alone generators are Qualifying Facilities. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) encouraged the construction of non-Qualifying Facilities starting in the late 1980's by issuing a number of orders to individual projects (known in the industry as independent power producers) approving sales of power at market rates. In addition, the Energy Policy Act of 1992 created a new class of stand-alone generators, called exempt wholesale generators, that are permitted to sell their power at market rates with FERC approval, and are exempted from certain utility regulation. Unlike PURPA, the Energy Policy Act has no requirement that utilities buy electricity from stand-alone generators.

[4] In 1996, FERC issued Order No. 888 in an effort to ensure that every wholesale supplier of electricity, including, for example, power marketers and stand-alone generators, has open access to the national transmission grid. The order requires regulated utilities to allow stand-alone generators to interconnect to the grid and to file nondiscriminatory tariffs under which any wholesale supplier can pay to have its electricity wheeled. Stand-alone generators (including Qualifying Facilities) have additional outlets for their power today that they did not have in 1988, including sales of power at auction on regional power exchanges or spot markets and under short and medium-term contracts to specific customers or to power marketers that trade electricity. Regulated utilities have many more sources of supply for electricity than in 1988. As a result of these changes, very few utilities enter into long-term power purchase contracts with stand-alone generators. Electricity produced by stand-alone generators is more likely today than in 1988 to be wheeled across the transmission grid of the interconnected utility for sale to consumers or intermediaries rather than to be sold directly to the interconnected utility.

[5] The new stand-alone generators still need to be interconnected to the transmission grid in order for a customer to take the power. Therefore, the stand-alone generator enters into a long-term interconnection agreement with the local utility. The term of a long-term interconnection agreement may be tied to the period that the stand-alone generator remains in commercial operation. This agreement may permit assignment of the agreement by the utility to accommodate future consolidation of local grids into regional transmission systems that will cover broad regions of the country.

MODIFICATIONS TO NOTICE 88-129 AND NOTICE 90-60

[6] In light of the above-mentioned changes in the electric power industry, the safe harbor provisions of Notice 88-129 are modified as follows:

[7] Notice 88-129, as amplified and modified by Notice 90-60, is further amplified and modified.

EFFECTIVE DATE

[8] This notice applies to transfers of property to regulated public utilities pursuant to interconnection agreements completed after December 24, 2001, the date this notice is published in the Bulletin. For transfers of interties occurring on or before December 24, 2001 and meeting the requirements of this notice, taxpayers may request application of this notice through a request for a private letter ruling (including, in appropriate circumstances, where the taxpayer's return for the year of transfer has already been filed).

DRAFTING INFORMATION

[9] The principal author of this notice is Gregory N. Doran of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Passthroughs and Special Industries). For further information regarding this notice contact Mr. Doran at (202) 622-3040 (not a toll-free call).