H. B. 3271
(By Delegates Manypenny, Wooton and Fleischauer)
[Introduced March 20, 2009; referred to the
Committee on Energy, Industry and Labor, Economic Development and
Small Business then Finance.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §11-13Z-1, §11-13Z-2,
§11-13Z-3 and §11-13Z-4, all relating to creating a tax credit
for certain solar energy systems; providing for restrictions
of use; requiring public electric utilities to provide net
metering service to customers; and requiring Tax Commissioner
to promulgate rules for claiming and applying tax credit.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §11-13Z-1, §11-13Z-2,
§11-13Z-3 and §11-13Z-4, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13Z. RESIDENTIAL SOLAR ENERGY TAX CREDIT.
§11-13Z-1. Amount of credit.
Any taxpayer who installs or causes to be installed a solar energy system on property owned by the taxpayer and used as a
residence, or as farm or small industry as defined in section three
of this article, after July 1, 2009 shall be allowed a credit
against the taxes imposed in article twenty-one of this chapter in
an amount equal to thirty percent of the cost to purchase and
install the system up to a maximum amount of $2,000.
§11-13Z-2. Restrictions.
In order to receive the credit for a solar energy system on
residential property, a farm or small industry defined in section
three of this article, the system must use solar energy to:
(1) Generate electricity;
(2) Heat or cool a structure; or
(3) Provide hot water for use in the structure or to provide
solar process heat: Provided, That this does not include a
swimming pool, hot tub or any other energy storage medium that has
a function other than storage: Provided, however, That the system
used to provide hot water must derive at least fifty percent of its
energy to heat or cool from the sun.
§11-13Z-3. Net-metering; credit by public electric utilities for
excess electricity generated.
If the solar energy system generates electricity in excess of
the monthly retail consumption of electricity of the customer's
residence, farm or small industry as defined in section three of
this article, public electric utilities shall allow the customer owner an offset for the electricity generated from the solar energy
system on the customer's side of the meter connected to the
residence. If the customer generates electricity in excess of that
customers's monthly consumption, all excess energy expressed in
kilowatt-hours shall be carried forward from month to month and
credited against the person's energy consumption, expressed in
kilowatt-hours. Public electric utilities shall provide net
metering service at nondiscriminating rates and allow the residence
owner to generate electricity subject to net metering up to fifty
kilowatts and allow farms and small industries to generate
electricity subject to net metering up to one megawatt.
For the purposes of this article, the terms "farms and small
industries" have the same meaning as the term "small business" is
defined in section ten, article thirteen-q of this chapter.
§11-13Z-4. Carryover credit allowed; Tax Commissioner to
promulgate rules.
If the credit earned in the year the solar energy system is
installed exceeds the allowable tax credit amount the residential
property owner, farm owner or small industry, as defined in section
three of this article, may claim for that taxable year, the excess
credit may be carried over for the next taxable year. If the
amount of the credit exceeds the taxpayer's liability for the
taxable year, the amount which exceeds the tax liability may be
carried over and applied as a credit against the tax liability of the taxpayer pursuant to the provisions of article twenty-one of
this chapter to each of the next taxable years unless sooner used.
The State Tax Commissioner shall promulgate legislative rules
pursuant to the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
regarding the applicability, method of claiming of the credit
recapture of the credit and documentation necessary to claim the
credit allowed by this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to give credit for energy
savings when a solar energy system is installed on a residential,
farm and small industry property. Farm and small industry property
are given the same definition as "small business".
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.