S.B. 355
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SENATE BILL NO. 355–SENATOR OHRENSCHALL
MARCH 13, 2025
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Referred to Committee on Growth and Infrastructure
SUMMARY—Revises provisions governing partial abatements of
taxes for certain renewable energy facilities.
(BDR 58-939)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact.
Effect on the State: Yes.
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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to renewable energy facilities; revising provisions
governing applications for a partial abatement of certain
taxes for renewable energy facilities that incorporate
agrivoltaics or ecovoltaics; and providing other matters
properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law authorizes a person who intends to locate certain renewable 1
energy facilities in this State to apply to the Director of the Office of Energy for a 2
partial abatement of local sales and use taxes, property taxes, or both local sales and 3
use taxes and property taxes. (NRS 701A.360) Existing law requires the Director to 4
approve an application for the partial abatement if the Director, in consultation with 5
the Office of Economic Development, makes certain determinations, including, 6
without limitation, that: (1) the financial benefits that will result to this State from 7
the facility will exceed the loss of tax revenue that will result from the partial 8
abatement; and (2) the facility is consistent with the State Plan for Economic 9
Development. (NRS 701A.365) Section 5 of this bill requires the Director to 10
approve an application without determining that the financial benefits to the State 11
from the facility will exceed the loss of tax revenue from the partial abatement or 12
that the facility is consistent with the State Plan for Economic Development if not 13
less than 36 percent of the total area of the facility for which the application is 14
made will be devoted to agrivoltaics or ecovoltaics for the duration of the 15
abatement. Sections 2 and 3 of this bill define the terms “agrivoltaics” and 16
“ecovoltaics,” respectively. 17
Existing law prohibits the Director from approving an application for a partial 18
abatement unless the application is approved or deemed approved by the board of 19
county commissioners of the county in which the facility will be located. The board 20
of county commissioners is authorized to deny the application only if the board 21
determines that: (1) the projected cost of the services that the local government is 22
required to provide to the facility will exceed the amount of tax revenue that the 23
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local government is projected to receive as a result of the abatement; or (2) the 24
projected financial benefits that will result to the county from the facility will not 25
exceed the projected loss of tax revenue that will result from the abatement. (NRS 26
701A.365) Section 5 exempts an application from the requirement to be approved 27
or deemed approved by the board of county commissioners if not less than 36 28
percent of the total area of the facility will be devoted to agrivoltaics or ecovoltaics 29
for the duration of the abatement. 30
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Chapter 701A of NRS is hereby amended by 1
adding thereto the provisions set forth as sections 2 and 3 of this act. 2
Sec. 2. “Agrivoltaics” means a system in which agricultural 3
activities, including, without limitation, crop production, livestock 4
production or beekeeping, occur underneath or between solar 5
panels. 6
Sec. 3. “Ecovoltaics” means a system in which conservation 7
activities, including, without limitation, native species 8
conservation, rangeland enhancement, soil improvement, 9
brownfield remediation or the fostering of pollinator habitats, 10
occur underneath or between solar panels. 11
Sec. 4. NRS 701A.300 is hereby amended to read as follows: 12
701A.300 As used in NRS 701A.300 to 701A.390, inclusive, 13
and sections 2 and 3 of this act, unless the context otherwise 14
requires, the words and terms defined in NRS 701A.305 to 15
701A.345, inclusive, and sections 2 and 3 of this act, have the 16
meanings ascribed to them in those sections. 17
Sec. 5. NRS 701A.365 is hereby amended to read as follows: 18
701A.365 1. The Director, in consultation with the Office of 19
Economic Development, shall approve an application for a partial 20
abatement pursuant to NRS 701A.300 to 701A.390, inclusive, and 21
sections 2 and 3 of this act, if the Director, in consultation with the 22
Office of Economic Development, makes the following 23
determinations: 24
(a) The applicant has executed an agreement with the Director 25
which must: 26
(1) State that the facility will, after the date on which the 27
abatement becomes effective, continue in operation in this State for 28
a period specified by the Director, which must be at least 10 years, 29
and will continue to meet the eligibility requirements for the 30
abatement; and 31
(2) Bind the successors in interest in the facility for the 32
specified period. 33
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(b) The facility is registered pursuant to the laws of this State or 1
the applicant commits to obtain a valid business license and all other 2
permits required by the county, city or town in which the facility 3
operates. 4
(c) No funding is or will be provided by any governmental 5
entity in this State for the acquisition, design or construction of the 6
facility or for the acquisition of any land therefor, except any private 7
activity bonds as defined in 26 U.S.C. § 141. 8
(d) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (e), if the facility 9
will be located in a county whose population is 100,000 or more or a 10
city whose population is 60,000 or more, the facility meets the 11
following requirements: 12
(1) There will be 75 or more full-time employees working on 13
the construction of the facility during the second quarter of 14
construction, including, unless waived by the Director for good 15
cause, at least 50 percent who are residents of Nevada; 16
(2) Establishing the facility will require the facility to make a 17
capital investment of at least $10,000,000 in this State in capital 18
assets that will be retained at the location of the facility until at least 19
the date which is 5 years after the date on which the abatement 20
becomes effective; 21
(3) The average hourly wage that will be paid by the facility 22
to its employees in this State is at least 110 percent of the average 23
statewide hourly wage, excluding management and administrative 24
employees, as established by the Employment Security Division of 25
the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation on 26
July 1 of each fiscal year; and 27
(4) Except as otherwise provided in subsection [6,] 7, the 28
average hourly wage of the employees working on the construction 29
of the facility will be at least 175 percent of the average statewide 30
hourly wage, excluding management and administrative employees, 31
as established by the Employment Security Division of the 32
Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation on July 1 33
of each fiscal year and: 34
(I) The employees working on the construction of the 35
facility must be provided a health insurance plan that is provided by 36
a third-party administrator and includes health insurance coverage 37
for dependents of the employees; and 38
(II) The cost of the benefits provided to the employees 39
working on the construction of the facility will meet the minimum 40
requirements for benefits established by the Director by regulation 41
pursuant to NRS 701A.390. 42
(e) If the facility will be located in a county whose population is 43
less than 100,000, in an area of a county whose population is 44
100,000 or more that is located within the geographic boundaries of 45
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an area that is designated as rural by the United States Department 1
of Agriculture and at least 20 miles outside of the geographic 2
boundaries of an area designated as urban by the United States 3
Department of Agriculture, or in a city whose population is less than 4
60,000, the facility meets the following requirements: 5
(1) There will be 50 or more full-time employees working on 6
the construction of the facility during the second quarter of 7
construction, including, unless waived by the Director for good 8
cause, at least 50 percent who are residents of Nevada; 9
(2) Establishing the facility will require the facility to make a 10
capital investment of at least $3,000,000 in this State in capital 11
assets that will be retained at the location of the facility until at least 12
the date which is 5 years after the date on which the abatement 13
becomes effective; 14
(3) The average hourly wage that will be paid by the facility 15
to its employees in this State is at least 110 percent of the average 16
statewide hourly wage, excluding management and administrative 17
employees, as established by the Employment Security Division of 18
the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation on 19
July 1 of each fiscal year; and 20
(4) Except as otherwise provided in subsection [6,] 7, the 21
average hourly wage of the employees working on the construction 22
of the facility will be at least 175 percent of the average statewide 23
hourly wage, excluding management and administrative employees, 24
as established by the Employment Security Division of the 25
Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation on July 1 26
of each fiscal year and: 27
(I) The employees working on the construction of the 28
facility must be provided a health insurance plan that is provided by 29
a third-party administrator and includes health insurance coverage 30
for dependents of the employees; and 31
(II) The cost of the benefits provided to the employees 32
working on the construction of the facility will meet the minimum 33
requirements for benefits established by the Director by regulation 34
pursuant to NRS 701A.390. 35
(f) [The] Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, the 36
financial benefits that will result to this State from the employment 37
by the facility of the residents of this State and from capital 38
investments by the facility in this State will exceed the loss of tax 39
revenue that will result from the abatement. 40
(g) [The] Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, the 41
facility is consistent with the State Plan for Economic Development 42
developed by the Executive Director of the Office of Economic 43
Development pursuant to subsection 2 of NRS 231.053. 44
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2. [The] Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, the 1
Director shall not approve an application for a partial abatement of 2
the taxes imposed pursuant to chapter 361 of NRS submitted 3
pursuant to NRS 701A.360 by a facility for the generation of 4
process heat from solar renewable energy, a wholesale facility for 5
the generation of electricity from renewable energy, a facility for the 6
storage of energy from renewable generation or a hybrid renewable 7
generation and energy storage facility unless the application is 8
approved or deemed approved pursuant to this subsection. The 9
board of county commissioners of a county must provide notice to 10
the Director that the board intends to consider an application and, if 11
such notice is given, must approve or deny the application not later 12
than 30 days after the board receives a copy of the application. The 13
board of county commissioners: 14
(a) Shall, in considering an application pursuant to this 15
subsection, make a recommendation to the Director regarding the 16
application; 17
(b) May, in considering an application pursuant to this 18
subsection, deny an application only if the board of county 19
commissioners determines, based on relevant information, that: 20
(1) The projected cost of the services that the local 21
government is required to provide to the facility will exceed the 22
amount of tax revenue that the local government is projected to 23
receive as a result of the abatement; or 24
(2) The projected financial benefits that will result to the 25
county from the employment by the facility of the residents of this 26
State and from capital investments by the facility in the county will 27
not exceed the projected loss of tax revenue that will result from the 28
abatement; 29
(c) Must not condition the approval of the application on a 30
requirement that the facility agree to purchase, lease or otherwise 31
acquire in its own name or on behalf of the county any 32
infrastructure, equipment, facilities or other property in the county 33
that is not directly related to or otherwise necessary for the 34
construction and operation of the facility; and 35
(d) May, without regard to whether the board has provided 36
notice to the Director of its intent to consider the application, make a 37
recommendation to the Director regarding the application. 38
If the board of county commissioners does not approve or deny 39
the application within 30 days after the board receives from the 40
Director a copy of the application, the application shall be deemed 41
approved. 42
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1, the Director, 43
in consultation with the Office of Economic Development, may, if 44
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the Director, in consultation with the Office, determines that such 1
action is necessary: 2
(a) Approve an application for a partial abatement for a facility 3
that does not meet any requirement set forth in subparagraph (1) or 4
(2) of paragraph (d) of subsection 1 or subparagraph (1) or (2) of 5
paragraph (e) of subsection 1; or 6
(b) Add additional requirements that a facility must meet to 7
qualify for a partial abatement. 8
4. The provisions of paragraphs (f) and (g) of subsection 1 9
and subsection 2 do not apply to an application if, for the duration 10
of the abatement, not less than 36 percent of the total area of the 11
facility will be devoted to agrivoltaics, ecovoltaics or both 12
agrivoltaics and ecovoltaics. 13
5. The Director shall cooperate with the Office of Economic 14
Development in carrying out the provisions of this section. 15
[5.] 6. The Director shall submit to the Office of Economic 16
Development an annual report, at such a time and containing such 17
information as the Office may require, regarding the partial 18
abatements granted pursuant to this section. 19
[6.] 7. The provisions of subparagraph (4) of paragraph (d) of 20
subsection 1 and subparagraph (4) of paragraph (e) of subsection 1 21
concerning the average hourly wage of the employees working on 22
the construction of a facility do not apply to the wages of an 23
apprentice as that term is defined in NRS 610.010. 24
[7.] 8. As used in this section, “wage” or “wages”: 25
(a) Means: 26
(1) The basic hourly rate of pay; and 27
(2) The amount of any hourly contribution made to a third-28
party administrator pursuant to a pension plan or vacation plan 29
which is for the benefit of the employee. 30
(b) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (a), does not 31
include the amount of any health insurance plan, pension or other 32
bona fide fringe benefits which are a benefit to the employee. 33
Sec. 6. This act becomes effective on July 1, 2025, and expires 34
by limitation on June 30, 2049. 35
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