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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6106
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 1846
Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduced by:
(PD)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E PROPERTY TAX EXEMP TION FOR
CERTAIN RENEWABLE EN ERGY SOURCES AND NONRESIDENTIAL
HYDROPOWER FACILITIE S.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subdivision (57) of section 12-81 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2021, and applicable to assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 3
2021): 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 where such 7
electricity is intended for private residential use or on a farm, as defined 8
in subsection (q) of section 1-1, provided (I) such installation occurs on 9
or after October 1, 2007, [and further provided] (II) the estimated annual 10
production of such source or facility does not exceed the estimated 11
annual load for the location where such source or facility is located, 12
where such load and production are estimated as of the date of 13
installation of the source or facility as indicated in the written 14 Raised Bill No. 6106
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application filed pursuant to subparagraph (E) of this subdivision, and 15
(III) such installation is for a single family dwelling, a multifamily 16
dwelling consisting of two to four units or a farm; [,] (ii) any passive or 17
active solar water or space heating system; [,] or (iii) any geothermal 18
energy resource. In the case of clause (i) of this subparagraph, the 19
utilization of or participation in any net metering or tariff policy or 20
program implemented by the state or ownership of such source or 21
facility by a party other than the owner of the real property upon which 22
such source or facility is installed shall not disqualify such source or 23
facility from exemption pursuant to this section. In the case of clause (ii) 24
or (iii) of this subparagraph, such exemption shall apply only to the 25
amount by which the assessed valuation of the real property equipped 26
with such system or resource exceeds the assessed valuation of such real 27
property equipped with the conventional portion of the system or 28
resource; 29
(B) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2013, 30
any Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1, 31
hydropower facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection (a) of 32
section 16-1, or solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source, 33
installed for generation or displacement of energy, provided (i) such 34
installation occurs on or after January 1, 2010, (ii) such installation is for 35
commercial or industrial purposes, (iii) the nameplate capacity of such 36
source or facility does not exceed the load for the location where such 37
generation or displacement is located, and (iv) such source or facility is 38
located in a distressed municipality, as defined in section 32-9p, with a 39
population between one hundred twenty-five thousand and one 40
hundred thirty-five thousand; 41
(C) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2013, 42
any municipality may, upon approval by its legislative body or in any 43
town in which the legislative body is a town meeting, by the board of 44
selectmen, abate up to one hundred per cent of property tax for any 45
Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1, hydropower 46
facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection (a) of section 16-1, or 47
solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source, installed for 48 Raised Bill No. 6106
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generation or displacement of energy, provided (i) such installation 49
occurs between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2013, (ii) such 50
installation is for commercial or industrial purposes, (iii) the nameplate 51
capacity of such source or facility does not exceed the load for the 52
location where such generation or displacement is located, and (iv) such 53
source or facility is not located in a municipality described in 54
subparagraph (B) of this subdivision; 55
(D) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2014, 56
any (i) Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1, (ii) 57
hydropower facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection (a) of 58
section 16-1, or (iii) solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy 59
source, installed for generation or displacement of energy, provided (I) 60
such installation occurs on or after January 1, 2014, (II) is for [commercial 61
or industrial] nonresidential purposes, (III) the [nameplate capacity] 62
estimated annual production of such source or facility does not exceed 63
the estimated annual load for the location where such generation or 64
displacement is located or the aggregated load of the beneficial accounts 65
for any Class I renewable energy source participating in virtual net 66
metering pursuant to section 16-244u, where such load and production 67
are estimated as of the date of installation of the source or facility as 68
indicated in the written application filed pursuant to subparagraph (E) 69
of this subdivision, and (IV) in the case of clause (iii) of this 70
subparagraph, such exemption shall apply only to the amount by which 71
the assessed valuation of the real property equipped with such source 72
exceeds the assessed valuation of such real property equipped with the 73
conventional portion of the source; 74
(E) Any person claiming the exemption provided in this subdivision 75
for any assessment year shall, on or before the first day of November in 76
such assessment year, file with the assessor or board of assessors in the 77
town in which such hydropower facility, Class I renewable energy 78
source, solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source or passive 79
or active solar water or space heating system or geothermal energy 80
resource is located, a written application claiming such exemption. Such 81
application shall be made on a form prepared for such purpose by the 82 Raised Bill No. 6106
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Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, and shall include, but 83
not be limited to, a statement of the estimated annual load and 84
production of a source or facility described in clause (i) of 85
subparagraphs (A) and (D) of this subdivision as of the date of the 86
installation of such source or facility. Said secretary shall make such 87
application available to the public on the Internet web site of the Office 88
of Policy and Management. Failure to file such application in the 89
manner and form as provided by [such assessor or board] the secretary 90
within the time limit prescribed shall constitute a waiver of the right to 91
such exemption for such assessment year. Such application shall not be 92
required for any assessment year following that for which the initial 93
application is filed, provided if such hydropower facility, Class I 94
renewable energy source, solar thermal or geothermal renewable 95
energy source or passive or active solar water or space heating system 96
or geothermal energy resource is altered in a manner which would 97
require a building permit, such alteration shall be deemed a waiver of 98
the right to such exemption until a new application, applicable with 99
respect to such altered source, is filed and the right to such exemption is 100
established as required initially. In the event that a person owns more 101
than one such source or facility in a municipality, such person may file 102
a single application identifying each source or facility; 103
(F) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2015, 104
any municipality may, by vote of its legislative body or, in a 105
municipality where the legislative body is a town meeting, by vote of 106
the board of selectmen, abate up to one hundred per cent of the property 107
taxes due for any tax year, for not longer than the term of the power 108
purchase agreement, with respect to any Class I renewable energy 109
source, as defined in section 16-1, that is the subject of such power 110
purchase agreement approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory 111
Authority pursuant to section 16a-3f; 112
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
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Section 1 October 1, 2021, and
applicable to assessment
years commencing on or
after October 1, 2021
12-81(57)
Statement of Purpose:
To revise the property tax exemption for certain renewable energy
sources and hydropower facilities.
[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.]