California Offers Tax Breaks to Clean Energy Manufacturing Companies

November 26th, 2010 by Susan Kraemer

Nanosolar, Bloom Energy and Solyndra are among the big names in California clean energy companies that have been awarded tax breaks of $71.5 million on $785.7 million in manufacturing equipment investment – according to Energy Prospects, under new tax policy passed this year in California.

Clean energy tax breaks in SB71 are designed to promote the development of innovative clean energy sector in California by offering sales and use tax exemptions for businesses that benefit the environment.

The tax break is not a net loss to the state coffers, though.

According to analysis from the research staff at the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority, who are responsible for the selections, California will actually get more back than it gives away with these tax breaks for clean energy, in both environmental and financial benefits. How much?

The $71.5 million tax breaks will enable the companies to create environmental benefits to the state valued at $48 million and fiscal benefits like long term job growth, with a total value of $55 million.

Bottom line? The $71.5 million investment in tax breaks for the clean energy companies will generate an estimated $103 million in payback to Californians.

The authority received 15 applications by an initial Oct. 11 deadline. These twelve were approved this week:

About the Author

Susan Kraemer writes at CleanTechnica, CSP-Today, PV-Insider , SmartGridUpdate, and GreenProphet. She has also been published at Ecoseed, NRDC OnEarth, MatterNetwork, Celsius, EnergyNow, and Scientific American. As a former serial entrepreneur in product design, Susan brings an innovator's perspective on inventing a carbon-constrained civilization: If necessity is the mother of invention, solving climate change is the mother of all necessities! As a lover of history and sci-fi, she enjoys chronicling the strange future we are creating in these interesting times. Follow Susan on Twitter @dotcommodity.