The incentive program extends to June 30, 2014, and is retroactive to July
1, 2005. But retroactive payments must be applied for by the end of the
month, state Revenue Department specialist Mark Bohe said.
"People will get their money," he said, "but only if they know to apply
for it, and then apply for it now."
By comparison, Puget Sound Energy and Seattle City Light charge about 5
cents per kilowatt-hour as a basic rate, then boost the rate to about 8
cents per kilowatt-hour.
The enabling legislation for the incentives, described by primary sponsor
Sen. Erik Poulsen, D-West Seattle, as "the most progressive in America,"
was passed last year, but has been tied up in the rule-making process
until this month.
Under the new program, utility companies will take a tax credit for the
money they pay to small electrical producers. The new program also will
allow those who adopt alternative-energy systems for their roofs and
backyards to justify their investments sooner than before. Until now, a
$20,000 photovoltaic system needed several decades to realize a "payback"
date.
Beginning Aug. 1, backyard producers of the future will be able to earn
kilowatt-hour money if they install equipment manufactured in this state.
To help that along, the new law offers tax incentives to manufacturers.
"This finally makes solar a viable investment for the little guy, which is
how I've always looked at it -- as a capital investment," said Mike
Nelson, director of the solar program for Washington State University
Extension.
"It's always cheaper to rent than to buy," Nelson said. "If you buy, when
the thing is paid off, you own a capital asset, and when I tell people
this, I always like to point to the first photovoltaic system built by
Bell Labs in 1954. It's still operating -- at the National Renewable
Energy Lab in Golden, Colorado."
At the federal level last year, Congress said individuals who install
equipment by 2007 will be eligible for a federal tax credit worth 30
percent of the cost, to a limit of $2,000 for individuals, but with no
limit for small businesses -- a federal first since incentives established
during the Carter administration dried up 20 years ago.
Already on the state's books are laws forgiving the state sales tax on the
purchase and installation of alternative-energy equipment and a law that
requires "net metering" of independently produced energy. "Net metering"
is when energy produced on one's roof spins the meter backward.
"Money talks," Poulsen said. "When people try to decide whether or not to
install a system in their home, these payments should make a difference.
They are the most progressive renewable incentives ever passed in America
and the model that made Japan and Germany the world's leaders in renewable
energy."
"Very broadly," he added, "it means ordinary people can produce their own
power. It's good for the planet, and it's great for the utilities because
it means they don't have to build new dams or new gas plants that
pollute."
For further information on the specific rules to the measure, a link
to download an incentive application, and to certify your existing system,
visit the original story link at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. This
article reprinted in full on RenewableEnergyAccess.com with permission
from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
