Tax credits, anyone?

Houston software company equips green project developers with IRA compliance tools

Empact’s goal is to help energy companies maximize the tax credits for their clean energy projects. Photo courtesy of Empact

A Houston company has an update to its first-of-its-kind software to assist emerging technology and energy companies with Inflation Reduction Act Energy Community Bonus Credit compliance management and reporting requirements for renewable energy projects.

Empact Technologies has released a software update that incorporates support for the latest IRA Energy Community Bonus management and reporting requirements. The new software is provided at no additional cost to existing Empact clients, and is available to qualified communities through a free trial via Empact’s website.

Empact’s goal is to help energy companies maximize the tax credits for their clean energy projects.

“Empact is the first (and only) company that provides technology and services to help the project developers qualify for and ensure compliance with all of those IRA tax incentive compliance requirements,“ CEO Charles Dauber tells EnergyCapital. “We work with project developers of solar, energy storage, carbon capture and sequestration, and other projects in ERCOT and around the country to manage compliance for the PWA, domestic content, and energy community compliance requirements and make sure they have all of the documentation required to prove to the IRS that these tax credits are valid.”

The software is the first in the industry to incorporate the most recent energy community guidelines released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service, known as Notice 2024-48. These guidelines outline Energy Community Bonus qualification requirements for the “Statistical Area Category” and the “Coal Closure Category” in Notice 2023-29.

Empact’s platform will provide tax incentive compliance management for all three types of credits, which will be covered in the IRA’s estimated $1.2 trillion in tax incentives. The credits include a base energy project tax incentive (30 percent) for projects that meet prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements, a domestic content tax adder (10 percent), and an energy community tax adder (10 percent). Notice 2024-48 is able to be used by developers to confirm project qualification for Energy Community Bonus opportunities.

Empact will support clients on eligibility requirements, manage compliance documentation and verification requirements.

“The IRA is considered the greatest and biggest accelerator for clean energy in the U.S.,” Dauber says. “The IRA provides significant tax incentives for developers of solar, energy storage, wind and other clean power technologies, as well as energy transition projects such as carbon capture and sequestration, hydrogen, biofuels and more.”

According to Empact, the way the IRA works is that developers of projects can “generate” tax credits based on meeting certain project requirements. There are three main factors in play:

  1. The foundational element of the tax credits provides a 30 percent tax credit of the project cost if the project meets requirements related to ensuring a fair wage for construction workers and utilizing a certain amount of apprentices on the project (called Prevailing Wage and Apprenticeship). The project developer (all the EPC and all contractors) must provide documentation that every worker has been paid correctly and that all apprenticeship requirements have been met. Some projects have hundreds of workers from 10-plus contractors every week.
  2. The second tax credit relates to the project utilizing steel and iron and other “manufactured products” such as solar modules, that are made in the U.S. If the project meets the “domestic content” requirements, it is eligible for another 10 percent tax credit. Project developers have to prove the products they use are made in the U.S. and there are calculations that must be done to meet the threshold that goes up every year.
  3. The third tax credit is related to the location of the project. The government is trying to incentivize project developers to put projects in locations with high unemployment, or sites that have existing power generation facilities, or are in areas that used to be coal communities. That tax incentive is called “Energy Communities” and provides an additional 10 percent tax credit for the project developers. To qualify for that tax credit, the developer must provide proof that the project is located in an energy community location.

Companies that remain in compliance by using the software will see immediate benefits, and the clean energy industry as a whole will benefit from Empact’s facilitation of tax credit utilization.

“If a developer does this all correctly, they can qualify for tax credits equal to 50 percent of the cost of the project which is an enormous benefit to getting more projects built and encouraging a balanced energy program in the U.S.” Dauber says. “For example, a 100MW solar farm may cost $100 million, and if they meet all of the criteria, they can qualify for $50 million in tax incentives. The same calculations work for carbon capture, hydrogen and other projects as well although there are some slight differences.

Last August, Stella Energy Solutions, a utility-scale solar and storage developer, entered into a multi-year agreement with Empact to use the platform to manage Stella's IRA tax incentives on all its projects for the next five years.

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A View From HETI

Harris County commissioners approved a plan that seeks to address issues of ecology, infrastructure, economy, community and culture. Photo via Getty Images.

Harris County commissioners approved a five-point Climate Justice Plan last month with a 3-1 vote by Harris County commissioners. The plan was created by the Office of County Administration’s Office of Sustainability and the nonprofit Coalition for Environment, Equity and Resilience.

“Climate action planning that centers on justice has the potential to spark innovative thinking and transformative actions that will lead to meaningful and just transitions in communities, policies, funding mechanisms, and implementation strategies,” the 59-page report reads.

The plan seeks to address issues relating to ecology, infrastructure, economy, community and culture. Here’s a breakdown:

Ecology

The plan will work towards clean air, water, and soil efforts that support the health of the environment, renewable energy that reduces greenhouse gases and pollution, and conservation and protection of our natural resources. Some action items include:

  • Increasing resources for local government agencies
  • Developing a free native seed bank at all libraries
  • Identifying partners and funding streams to reduce the costs of solar power for area households
  • Producing renewable energy on large tracts of land
  • Expanding tree planting by 20 percent
  • Providing tree maintenance and restoration efforts
  • Incentivizing gray water systems and filtration to conserve fresh water

Economy

In terms of the economy, the Climate Justice Plan wants the basic needs of the community met and wants to also incentivize resilience, sustainability, and climate solutions, and recycling and reuse methods. Specific actions include:

  • Quantifying the rising costs associated with climate change
  • Expanding resources and partnering with organizations to support programs that provide food, utility, housing, and direct cash assistance
  • Supporting a coalition of area non-profit organizations and county offices to strengthen social service support infrastructure
  • Supporting home repair, solar installation, and weatherization programs
  • Identify methods to expand free and efficient recycling and composting services
  • Creating a climate tax levied on greenhouse gas emissions to develop a climate fund to offset the impacts of pollution

Infrastructure

As Houston has been prone to hurricanes and flooding damage, the infrastructure portion of the plan aims to protect the region from risks through preventative floodplain and watershed management. Highlights include:

  • Investing in generators and solar power, plus battery backup and bidirectional EV charging for all county libraries
  • Providing more heating and cooling centers with charging stations
  • Coordinating and deploying community microgrids, especially in neighborhoods prone to losing power
  • Seeking partnerships and funding for low- or no-cost water purifiers for areas with the highest needs
  • Protecting the electric grid through regular maintenance and upgrading, and advocating for greater accountability and responsiveness among appointed officials
  • Developing regulations to require resilient power line infrastructure to prevent outages and failures in new developments

Community and Culture

Housing, a strong economy and access to affordable and healthy food will be achieved under the community aspect of the plan. Under culture, the plan seeks to share knowledge and build trust. Key goals include:

  • Developing a campaign to promote the use of the Harris County 311 system to identify critical community concerns
  • Supporting the development of a Community Housing Plan that ensures stable and safe housing
  • Advocating for revisions to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster funding to account for renters’ losses and unmet housing needs
  • Developing and funding a whole-home program for repairs, weatherization, and solar energy
  • Developing culturally relevant public relations campaigns to increase knowledge of health, environment and biodiversity across generations
Read the full plan here.

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