Clean energy companies in Oregon are finding lawmakers more reluctant to give them tax credits.
Clean energy companies in Oregon are finding lawmakers more reluctant to give them tax credits.
Tax credits for clean energy companies ballooned from about $100 million in 2006 to more than $300 million in 2010, according to Legislative Revenue Office figures.
That prompted lawmakers facing troubled budgets to rein in the credits, The Bend Bulletin reported Sunday.
From 2005 to 2009, Bend fuel-cell maker IdaTech tapped Oregon’s Business Energy Tax Credits program eight times, securing $10.7 million in tax credits for research and development. But when the company asked for an additional $5 million in 2010, the state balked.
BETC was revamped last year, with caps on the amount of money that could be spent and stricter job-creation requirements for companies that apply for credits.
Officials with some Central Oregon energy companies said they might not be around to keep developing new technology if not for the state and federal support they’ve received.
Read more in today’s Statesman Journal.
