Substitute House Bill No. 6106
Public Act No. 21-180
AN ACT CONCERNING THE PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION FOR
CERTAIN RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES AND HYDROPOWER
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 general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October
1, 2021, and applicable to assessment years commencing on or after October 1,
2021):
(57) (A) (i) Any Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section
16-1, or hydropower facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection
(a) of section 16-1, installed for the generation of electricity where such
electricity is intended for private residential use or on a farm, as defined
in subsection (q) of section 1-1, provided (I) such installation occurs on
or after October 1, 2007, [and further provided] (II) the estimated annual
production of such source or facility does not exceed the estimated
annual load for the location where such source or facility is located,
where such load and production are estimated as of the date of
installation of the source or facility as indicated in the written
application filed pursuant to subparagraph (E) of this subdivision, and
(III) such installation is for a single family dwelling, a multifamily
dwelling consisting of two to four units or a farm; [,] (ii) any passive or Substitute House Bill No. 6106
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active solar water or space heating system; [,] or (iii) any geothermal
energy resource. In the case of clause (i) of this subparagraph, the
utilization of or participation in any net metering or tariff policy or
program implemented by the state or ownership of such source or
facility by a party other than the owner of the real property upon which
such source or facility is installed shall not disqualify such source or
facility from exemption pursuant to this section. In the case of clause (ii)
or (iii) of this subparagraph, such exemption shall apply only to the
amount by which the assessed valuation of the real property equipped
with such system or resource exceeds the assessed valuation of such real
property equipped with the conventional portion of the system or
resource;
(B) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2013,
any Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1,
hydropower facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection (a) of
section 16-1, or solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source,
installed for generation or displacement of energy, provided (i) such
installation occurs on or after January 1, 2010, (ii) such installation is for
commercial or industrial purposes, (iii) the nameplate capacity of such
source or facility does not exceed the load for the location where such
generation or displacement is located, and (iv) such source or facility is
located in a distressed municipality, as defined in section 32-9p, with a
population between one hundred twenty-five thousand and one
hundred thirty-five thousand;
(C) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2013,
any municipality may, upon approval by its legislative body or in any
town in which the legislative body is a town meeting, by the board of
selectmen, abate up to one hundred per cent of property tax for any
Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1, hydropower
facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection (a) of section 16-1, or
solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source, installed for Substitute House Bill No. 6106
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generation or displacement of energy, provided (i) such installation
occurs between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2013, (ii) such
installation is for commercial or industrial purposes, (iii) the nameplate
capacity of such source or facility does not exceed the load for the
location where such generation or displacement is located, and (iv) such
source or facility is not located in a municipality described in
subparagraph (B) of this subdivision;
(D) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2014,
any (i) Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1, (ii)
hydropower facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection (a) of
section 16-1, or (iii) solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy
source, installed for generation or displacement of energy, provided (I)
such installation occurs on or after January 1, 2014, (II) is for commercial
or industrial purposes, (III) the nameplate capacity of such source or
facility does not exceed the load for the location where such generation
or displacement is located or the aggregated load of the beneficial
accounts for any Class I renewable energy source participating in virtual
net metering pursuant to section 16-244u, and (IV) in the case of clause
(iii) of this subparagraph, such exemption shall apply only to the
amount by which the assessed valuation of the real property equipped
with such source exceeds the assessed valuation of such real property
equipped with the conventional portion of the source;
(E) Any person claiming the exemption provided in this subdivision
for any assessment year shall, on or before the first day of November in
such assessment year, file with the assessor or board of assessors in the
town in which such hydropower facility, Class I renewable energy
source, solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source or passive
or active solar water or space heating system or geothermal energy
resource is located, a written application claiming such exemption. Such
application shall be made on a form prepared for such purpose by the
Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, in consultation with Substitute House Bill No. 6106
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the Connecticut Association of Assessing Officers and the Connecticut
Green Bank established pursuant to section 16-245n, and shall include,
but not be limited to, a statement of the estimated annual load and
production of a source or facility described in clause (i) of subparagraph
(A) of this subdivision as of the date of the installation of such source or
facility. Said secretary shall make such application available to the
public on the Internet web site of the Office of Policy and Management.
Failure to file such application in the manner and form as provided by
[such assessor or board] the secretary within the time limit prescribed
shall constitute a waiver of the right to such exemption for such
assessment year. Such application shall not be required for any
assessment year following that for which the initial application is filed,
provided if such hydropower facility, Class I renewable energy source,
solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source or passive or
active solar water or space heating system or geothermal energy
resource is altered in a manner which would require a building permit,
such alteration shall be deemed a waiver of the right to such exemption
until a new application, applicable with respect to such altered source,
is filed and the right to such exemption is established as required
initially. In the event that a person owns more than one such source or
facility in a municipality, such person may file a single application
identifying each source or facility;
(F) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2015,
any municipality may, by vote of its legislative body or, in a
municipality where the legislative body is a town meeting, by vote of
the board of selectmen, abate up to one hundred per cent of the property
taxes due for any tax year, for not longer than the term of the power
purchase agreement, with respect to any Class I renewable energy
source, as defined in section 16-1, that is the subject of such power
purchase agreement approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory
Authority pursuant to section 16a-3f; Substitute House Bill No. 6106
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