LCO No. 1741 1 of 4 General Assembly Raised Bill No. 290 February Session, 2020 LCO No. 1741 Referred to Committee on ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY Introduced by: (ET) AN ACT CONCERNING TA XATION OF CERTAIN SOLAR POWER FACILITIES. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: Section 1. Subdivision (57) of section 12-81 of the 2020 supplement to 1 the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2 thereof (Effective from passage and applicable to assessment years commencing 3 on and after October 1, 2020): 4 (57) (A) (i) Any Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 5 16-1, or hydropower facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection 6 (a) of section 16-1, installed for the generation of electricity for private 7 residential use or on a farm, as defined in subsection (q) of section 1-1, 8 provided such installation occurs on or after October 1, 2007, and further 9 provided such installation is for a single family dwelling, a multifamily 10 dwelling consisting of two to four units or a farm, (ii) any passive or 11 active solar water or space heating system, or (iii) any geothermal 12 energy resource. In the case of clause (ii) or (iii) of this subparagraph, 13 such exemption shall apply only to the amount by which the assessed 14 valuation of the real property equipped with such system or resource 15 Raised Bill No. 290 LCO No. 1741 2 of 4 exceeds the assessed valuation of such real property equipped with the 16 conventional portion of the system or resource; 17 (B) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2013, 18 any Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1, 19 hydropower facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection (a) of 20 section 16-1, or solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source, 21 installed for generation or displacement of energy, provided (i) such 22 installation occurs on or after January 1, 2010, (ii) such installation is for 23 commercial or industrial purposes, (iii) the nameplate capacity of such 24 source or facility does not exceed the load for the location where such 25 generation or displacement is located, and (iv) such source or facility is 26 located in a distressed municipality, as defined in section 32-9p, with a 27 population between one hundred twenty-five thousand and one 28 hundred thirty-five thousand; 29 (C) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2013, 30 any municipality may, upon approval by its legislative body or in any 31 town in which the legislative body is a town meeting, by the board of 32 selectmen, abate up to one hundred per cent of property tax for any 33 Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1, hydropower 34 facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection (a) of section 16-1, or 35 solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source, installed for 36 generation or displacement of energy, provided (i) such installation 37 occurs between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2013, (ii) such 38 installation is for commercial or industrial purposes, (iii) the nameplate 39 capacity of such source or facility does not exceed the load for the 40 location where such generation or displacement is located, and (iv) such 41 source or facility is not located in a municipality described in 42 subparagraph (B) of this subdivision; 43 (D) [For] Except as provided in subparagraph (E) of this subdivision, 44 for assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2014, any (i) 45 Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1, (ii) 46 hydropower facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection (a) of 47 section 16-1, or (iii) solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy 48 Raised Bill No. 290 LCO No. 1741 3 of 4 source, installed for generation or displacement of energy, provided (I) 49 such installation occurs on or after January 1, 2014, (II) is for commercial 50 or industrial purposes, (III) the nameplate capacity of such source or 51 facility does not exceed the load for the location where such generation 52 or displacement is located or the aggregated load of the beneficial 53 accounts for any Class I renewable energy source participating in virtual 54 net metering pursuant to section 16-244u, and (IV) in the case of clause 55 (iii) of this subparagraph, such exemption shall apply only to the 56 amount by which the assessed valuation of the real property equipped 57 with such source exceeds the assessed valuation of such real property 58 equipped with the conventional portion of the source; 59 (E) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2020, 60 the exemption under subparagraph (D) of this subdivision shall not 61 apply to any Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-62 1, participating in virtual net metering pursuant to section 16-244u; 63 [(E)] (F) Any person claiming the exemption provided in this 64 subdivision for any assessment year shall, on or before the first day of 65 November in such assessment year, file with the assessor or board of 66 assessors in the town in which such hydropower facility, Class I 67 renewable energy source, solar thermal or geothermal renewable 68 energy source or passive or active solar water or space heating system 69 or geothermal energy resource is located, a written application claiming 70 such exemption. Failure to file such application in the manner and form 71 as provided by such assessor or board within the time limit prescribed 72 shall constitute a waiver of the right to such exemption for such 73 assessment year. Such application shall not be required for any 74 assessment year following that for which the initial application is filed, 75 provided if such hydropower facility, Class I renewable energy source, 76 solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source or passive or 77 active solar water or space heating system or geothermal energy 78 resource is altered in a manner which would require a building permit, 79 such alteration shall be deemed a waiver of the right to such exemption 80 until a new application, applicable with respect to such altered source, 81 is filed and the right to such exemption is established as required 82 Raised Bill No. 290 LCO No. 1741 4 of 4 initially; 83 [(F)] (G) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 84 2015, any municipality may, by vote of its legislative body or, in a 85 municipality where the legislative body is a town meeting, by vote of 86 the board of selectmen, abate up to one hundred per cent of the property 87 taxes due for any tax year, for not longer than the term of the power 88 purchase agreement, with respect to any Class I renewable energy 89 source, as defined in section 16-1, that is the subject of such power 90 purchase agreement approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory 91 Authority pursuant to section 16a-3f; 92 This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: Section 1 from passage and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2020 12-81(57) Statement of Purpose: To eliminate a property tax exemption applicable to Class I renewable energy sources participating in virtual net metering. [Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]