Group will fight to save BETC
Without an extension of the tax credits into 2016, clean energy companies may leave Oregon for greener pastures in other states.
When Robert Grott, executive director of the Northwest Environmental Business Council, mentions the looming expiration of the Business Energy Tax Credit to business owners, their responses are similar: They’re dead in the water without the BETC.
The popular and controversial tax credits for renewable energy projects are set to expire in 2012, and Oregon’s young alternative energy industry is anxious about funding for future projects. As the state grapples with a $3.5 billion budget shortfall over the next two years, the Oregon Legislature is looking to cut programs and not extend them. But without an extension of the tax credits into 2016, Grott believes clean energy companies will leave Oregon for greener pastures in other states.
Excluding large wind developments, the BETC offers tax breaks for up to 50 percent of renewable energy project costs. Tax credits for wind projects larger than 10 megawatts were chopped to 10 percent of project costs this year after the state found evidence that companies were abusing the program.
