Texas Adopts Rules to Promote Clean Energy Projects
Texas House Energy Resources Committee Chairman Rick Hardcastle recently applauded the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for adopting final rules for the implementation of House Bill 3732, the most significant clean energy bill approved by the Texas Legislature in 2007. Using a mix of tax, financial, and regulatory incentives, HB 3732 encourages the development of clean energy projects, will help local communities build clean power facilities, and will spur energy companies in Texas to make existing plants cleaner. The legislation gives Texas the most stringent emissions standards in the nation for plants seeking to be designated as advanced clean energy projects.
A 1994 amendment to the Texas Constitution allows owners of pollution-control equipment to apply for exemptions from ad valorem taxes on that equipment. The process for granting those exemptions at the TCEQ, however, has been lengthy and the new rules will expedite that process. Hardcastle pointed out the Texas Conference of Urban Counties and the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association supported the new rules, testifying at the TCEQ hearing that HB 3732 is unlikely to adversely affect county tax revenues.
To be designated as an advanced clean energy project, and to be eligible for the incentives, under the TCEQ rules, an energy plant in Texas will have to meet the following emission standards—emission goals the federal government has set as targets for the year 2020: reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 99%; reduce mercury emissions by 95%; have a nitrogen dioxide emissions rate of no more than 0.05 lb per million Btus; and be carbon-capture ready.