IRS Releases Reference Prices for Energy Production Credits

Credit for Renewable Electricity Production, Refined Coal Production, and Indian Coal Production, and Publication of Inflation Adjustment Factors and Reference Prices for Calendar Year 2020

This notice publishes the inflation adjustment factors and reference prices for calendar year 2020 for the renewable electricity production credit, the refined coal production credit, and the Indian coal production credit under section 45 of the Internal Revenue Code. The 2020 inflation adjustment factors and reference prices are used in determining the availability of the credits and apply to calendar year 2020 sales of kilowatt hours of electricity produced in the United States or a possession thereof from qualified energy resources, and to calendar year 2020 sales of refined coal and Indian coal produced in the United States or a possession thereof.

BACKGROUND

Section 45(a) provides that the renewable electricity production credit for any tax year is an amount equal to the product of 1.5 cents multiplied by the kilowatt hours of specified electricity produced by the taxpayer and sold to an unrelated person during the tax year. This electricity must be produced from qualified energy resources and at a qualified facility during the 10-year period beginning on the date the facility was originally placed in service.

Section 45(b)(1) provides that the amount of the credit determined under section 45(a) is reduced by an amount which bears the same ratio to the amount of the credit as (A) the amount by which the reference price for the calendar year in which the sale occurs exceeds 8 cents, bears to (B) 3 cents. Under section 45(b)(2), the 1.5 cent amount in section 45(a), the 8 cent amount in section 45(b)(1), the $4.375 amount in section 45(e)(8)(A), and, in section 45(e)(8)(B)(i), the reference price of fuel used as feedstock (within the meaning of section 45(c)(7)(A)) in 2002, are each adjusted by multiplying such amount by the inflation adjustment factor for the calendar year in which the sale occurs. If any amount as increased under the preceding sentence is not a multiple of 0.1 cent, the amount is rounded to the nearest multiple of 0.1 cent. In the case of electricity produced in open-loop bio-mass facilities, landfill gas facilities, trash facilities, qualified hydropower facilities, and marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy facilities, section 45(b)(4)(A) requires the amount in effect under section 45(a)(1) (before rounding to the nearest 0.1 cent) to be reduced by one-half.

Section 45(b)(5) provides that in the case of any facility using wind to produce electricity, the amount of the credit determined under section 45(a) (determined after the application of section 45(b)(1), (2), and (3) and without regard to section 45(b)(5)) shall be reduced by (A) in the case of any facility the construction of which begins after December 31, 2016, and before January 1, 2018, 20 percent, (B) in the case of any facility the construction of which begins after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2019, 40 percent, (C) in the case of any facility the construction of which begins after December 31, 2018, and before January 1, 2020, 60 percent, and (D) in the case of any facility the construction of which begins after December 31, 2019, and before January 1, 2021, 40 percent.

Section 45(c)(1) defines qualified energy resources as wind, closed-loop bio-mass, open-loop biomass, geothermal energy, municipal solid waste, qualified hydropower production, and marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy.

Section 45(d)(1) defines a qualified facility using wind to produce electricity as any facility owned by the taxpayer that is originally placed in service after December 31, 1993, and the construction of which begins before January 1, 2021. See section 45(e)(7) for rules relating to the inapplicability of the credit to electricity sold to utilities under certain contracts.

Section 45(d)(2)(A) defines a qualified facility using closed-loop biomass to produce electricity as any facility (i) owned by the taxpayer that is originally placed in service after December 31, 1992, and the construction of which begins before January 1, 2021, or (ii) owned by the taxpayer which before January 1, 2021 is originally placed in service and modified to use closed-loop biomass to cofire with coal, with other biomass, or with both, but only if the modification is approved under the Biomass Power for Rural Development Programs or is part of a pilot project of the Commodity Credit Corporation as described in 65 FR 63052. For purposes of section 45(d)(2)(A)(ii), a facility shall be treated as modified before January 1, 2021, if the construction of such modification begins before such date. Section 45(d)(2)(C) provides that in the case of a qualified facility described in section 45(d)(2)(A)(ii), (i) the 10-year period referred to in section 45(a) is treated as beginning no earlier than the date of the enactment of section 45(d)(2)(C)(i) (October 22, 2004), and (ii) if the owner of such facility is not the producer of the electricity, the person eligible for the credit allowable under section 45(a) is the lessee or the operator of such facility. A qualified facility using closed-loop biomass includes a new unit placed in service after the date of the enactment of section 45(d)(2)(B) (October 3, 2008) in connection with a qualified facility using closed-loop biomass, but only to the extent of the increased amount of electricity produced at the facility by reason of such new unit.

Section 45(d)(3)(A) defines a qualified facility using open-loop biomass to produce electricity as any facility owned by the taxpayer which (i) in the case of a facility using agricultural livestock waste nutrients, (I) is originally placed in service after the date of the enactment of section 45(d)(3)(A)(i)(I) (October 22, 2004) and the construction of which begins before January 1, 2021, and (II) the nameplate capacity rating of which is not less than 150 kilowatts, and (ii) in the case of any other facility, the construction of which begins before January 1, 2021. In the case of any facility described in section 45(d)(3)(A), if the owner of such facility is not the producer of the electricity, section 45(d)(3)(C) provides that the person eligible for the credit allowable under section 45(a) is the lessee or the operator of such facility. A qualified facility using open-loop biomass includes a new unit placed in service after the date of the enactment of section 45(d)(3)(B) (October 3, 2008) in connection with a qualified facility using open-loop biomass, but only to the extent of the increased amount of electricity produced at the facility by reason of such new unit.

Section 45(d)(4) defines a qualified facility using geothermal energy to produce electricity as any facility owned by the taxpayer which is originally placed in service after the date of the enactment of section 45(d)(4) (October 22, 2004) and the construction of which begins before January 1, 2021. A qualified facility using geothermal energy does not include any property described in section 48(a)(3) the basis of which is taken into account by the taxpayer for purposes of determining the energy credit under section 48.

Section 45(d)(6) defines a qualified facility using gas derived from the bio-degradation of municipal solid waste to produce electricity as any facility owned by the taxpayer which is originally placed in service after the date of the enactment of section 45(d)(6) (October 22, 2004) and the construction of which begins before January 1, 2021.

Section 45(d)(7) defines a qualified facility (other than a facility described in section 45(d)(6)) that uses municipal solid waste to produce electricity as any facility owned by the taxpayer which is originally placed in service after the date of the enactment of section 45(d)(7) (October 22, 2004) and the construction of which begins before January 1, 2021. A qualified facility using municipal solid waste includes a new unit placed in service in connection with a facility placed in service on or before the date of the enactment of section 45(d)(7), but only to the extent of the increased amount of electricity produced at the facility by reason of such new unit.

Section 45(d)(8) provides, in the case of a facility that produces refined coal (other than a facility producing steel industry fuel), the term “refined coal production facility” means any facility producing refined coal placed in service after the date of the enactment of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (October 22, 2004) and before January 1, 2012.

Section 45(d)(9) defines a qualified facility producing qualified hydroelectric production described in section 45(c)(8) as (i) any facility producing incremental hydropower production, but only to the extent of its incremental hydropower production attributable to efficiency improvements or additions to capacity described in section 45(c)(8)(B) placed in service after the date of the enactment of section 45(d)(9)(A)(i) (August 8, 2005) and before January 1, 2021, and (ii) any other facility placed in service after the date of the enactment of section 45(d)(9)(A)(ii) (August 8, 2005) and the construction of which begins before January 1, 2021. Section 45(d)(9)(B) provides that, in the case of a qualified facility described in section 45(d)(9)(A), the 10-year period referred to in section 45(a) shall be treated as beginning on the date the efficiency improvements or additions to capacity are placed in service. Section 45(d)(9)(C) provides that for purposes of section 45(d)(9)(A)(i), an efficiency improvement or addition to capacity shall be treated as placed in service before January 1, 2021 if the construction of such improvement or addition begins before such date.

Section 45(d)(10) provides that the term “Indian Coal Production Facility” means a facility that produces Indian coal.

Section 45(d)(11) provides in the case of a facility producing electricity from marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy, the term “qualified facility” means any facility owned by the taxpayer which (A) has a nameplate capacity rating of at least 150 kilowatts, and (B) is originally placed in service on or after the date of the enactment of section 45(d)(11)(B) (October 3, 2008) and the construction of which begins before January 1, 2021.

Section 45(e)(8)(A) provides that the refined coal production credit is an amount equal to $4.375 per ton of qualified refined coal (i) produced by the taxpayer at a refined coal production facility during the 10-year period beginning on the date the facility was originally placed in service, and (ii) sold by the taxpayer (I) to an unrelated person and (II) during such 10-year period and the tax year. Section 45(e)(8)(B) provides that the amount of credit determined under section 45(e)(8)(A) is reduced by an amount which bears the same ratio to the amount of the increase as (i) the amount by which the reference price of fuel used as feedstock (within the meaning of section 45(c)(7)(A)) for the calendar year in which the sale occurs exceeds an amount equal to 1.7 multiplied by the reference price for such fuel in 2002, bears to (ii) $8.75.

Section 45(e)(10)(A) provides in the case of a producer of Indian coal, the credit determined under section 45 for any taxable year is an amount equal to the applicable dollar amount per ton of Indian coal (i) produced by the taxpayer at an Indian coal production facility during the 15-year period beginning on January 1, 2006, and (ii) sold by the taxpayer (I) to an unrelated person, and (II) during such 15-year period and such taxable year.

Section 45(e)(10)(B)(i) defines “applicable dollar amount” for any taxable year as (I) $1.50 in the case of calendar years 2006 through 2009, and (II) $2.00 in the case of calendar years beginning after 2009.

Section 45(e)(2)(A) requires the Secretary to determine and publish in the Federal Register each calendar year the inflation adjustment factors and the reference prices for such calendar year. The inflation adjustment factors and the reference prices for the 2020 calendar year were published in the Federal Register at 85 FR 28698 on May 13, 2020.

Section 45(e)(2)(B) defines the inflation adjustment factor for a calendar year as a fraction the numerator of which is the GDP implicit price deflator for the preceding calendar year and the denominator of which is the GDP implicit price deflator for the calendar year 1992. The term “GDP implicit price deflator” means the most recent revision of the implicit price deflator for the gross domestic product as computed and published by the Department of Commerce before March 15 of the calendar year.

Under section 45(e)(10)(B)(ii), in the case of any calendar year after 2006, each of the dollar amounts under section 45(e)(10)(B)(i) shall be equal to the product of such dollar amount and the inflation adjustment factor determined under section 45(e)(2)(B) for the calendar year, except that section 45(e)(2)(B) shall be applied by substituting 2005 for 1992.

Section 45(e)(2)(C) provides that the reference price is the Secretary's determination of the annual average contract price per kilowatt hour of electricity generated from the same qualified energy resource and sold in the previous year in the United States. Only contracts entered into after December 31, 1989 are taken into account.

Under section 45(e)(8)(C), the determination of the reference price for fuel used as feedstock within the meaning of section 45(c)(7)(A) is made according to rules similar to the rules under section 45(e)(2)(C).

INFLATION ADJUSTMENT FACTORS AND REFERENCE PRICES

The inflation adjustment factor for calendar year 2020 for qualified energy resources and refined coal is 1.6687. The inflation adjustment factor for calendar year 2020 for Indian coal is 1.2851.

The reference price for calendar year 2020 for facilities producing electricity from wind (based upon information provided by the Department of Energy) is 4.16 cents per kilowatt hour. The reference prices for fuel used as feedstock within the meaning of section 45(c)(7)(A), relating to refined coal production (based upon information provided by the Department of Energy) are $31.90 per ton for calendar year 2002 and $48.58 per ton for calendar year 2020. The reference prices for facilities producing electricity from closed-loop biomass, open-loop biomass, geothermal energy, municipal solid waste, qualified hydropower production, and marine and hydrokinetic energy have not been determined for calendar year 2020.

PHASEOUT CALCULATION

Because the 2020 reference price for electricity produced from wind (4.16 cents per kilowatt hour) does not exceed 8 cents multiplied by the inflation adjustment factor (1.6687), the phaseout of the credit provided in section 45(b)(1) does not apply to such electricity sold during calendar year 2020. However, refer to section 45(b)(5) for an additional phaseout of the credit for wind facilities the construction of which begins after December 31, 2016. Because the 2020 reference price of fuel used as feedstock for refined coal ($48.58) does not exceed $90.49 (which is the $31.90 reference price of such fuel in 2002 multiplied by the inflation adjustment factor (1.6687) and 1.7), the phaseout of the credit provided in section 45(e)(8)(B) does not apply to refined coal sold during calendar year 2020. Further, for electricity produced from closed-loop biomass, open-loop biomass, geothermal energy, municipal solid waste, qualified hydropower production, and marine and hydrokinetic energy, the phaseout of the credit provided in section 45(b)(1) does not apply to such electricity sold during calendar year 2020.

CREDIT AMOUNT BY QUALIFIED ENERGY RESOURCE AND FACILITY, REFINED COAL, AND INDIAN COAL

As required by section 45(b)(2), the 1.5 cent amount in section 45(a)(1), and the $4.375 amount in section 45(e)(8)(A) are each adjusted by multiplying such amount by the inflation adjustment factor for the calendar year in which the sale occurs. If any amount as increased under the preceding sentence is not a multiple of 0.1 cent, such amount is rounded to the nearest multiple of 0.1 cent. In the case of electricity produced in open-loop biomass facilities, landfill gas facilities, trash facilities, qualified hydropower facilities, and marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy facilities, section 45(b)(4)(A) requires the amount in effect under section 45(a)(1) (before rounding to the nearest 0.1 cent) to be reduced by one-half. Under the calculation required by section 45(b)(2), the credit for renewable electricity production for calendar year 2020 under section 45(a) is 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour on the sale of electricity produced from the qualified energy resources of wind, closed-loop biomass, and geothermal energy, and 1.3 cents per kilowatt hour on the sale of electricity produced in open-loop biomass facilities, landfill gas facilities, trash facilities, qualified hydropower facilities, and marine and hydrokinetic energy facilities. Under the calculation required by section 45(b)(2), the credit for refined coal production for calendar year 2020 under section 45(e)(8)(A) is $7.301 per ton on the sale of qualified refined coal.

As required by section 45(e)(10)(B)(ii), the $2.00 amount in section 45(e)(10)(B)(i) is adjusted by multiplying such amount by the inflation adjustment factor for the calendar year. Under the calculation required by section 45(e)(10)(B)(ii), the credit for Indian coal production for calendar year 2020 under section 45(e)(10)(B) is $2.570 per ton on the sale of Indian coal.

DRAFTING AND CONTACT INFORMATION

The principal author of this notice is Charles Hyde of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Passthroughs & Special Industries). For further information regarding this notice contact Mr. Hyde at (202) 317-6853 (not a toll-free number).