February 14, 2014
Idaho

Rep seeks to hit Idaho wind energy companies in pocketbook with tax break limit

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | February 13, 2014 | www.greenfieldreporter.com

A Republican legislator who has long fought Idaho’s wind energy sector now wants to hit the industry in its pocketbook.

Rep. Tom Loertscher of Ione introduced a measure Thursday to trim a tax break that alternative energy companies claiming on their property.

Loertscher worries companies whose towering turbines dot Idaho’s windy horizons are inappropriately claiming a tax break for property not used directly to produce electricity.

In a House tax committee hearing, he charged some companies with claiming breaks on equipment including snow cats they use to access turbines during the snowy winter months.

Loertscher called it “a matter of fairness.”

The panel agreed to debate his bill, which forbids wind and geothermal energy companies from claiming a break on their business equipment or on structures that don’t produce energy.

[rest of article available at source]

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/02/14/rep-seeks-to-hit-idaho-wind-energy-companies-in-pocketbook-with-tax-break-limit/