North Dakota senators introduce bill to extend refined coal credits

North Dakota Sens. John Hoeven (R) and Kevin Cramer (R) introduced a bill to extend the refined coal tax credit, which incentivizes power plants to pre-treat or refine coal to improve efficiency and decrease emissions.

“The use of refined coal is a strong example of using technology to improve environmental stewardship while still relying on abundant, affordable energy sources like coal,” Hoeven said. “For many facilities that use refined coal, this tax credit has already or will soon expire. Accordingly, our legislation would extend existing facilities’ eligibility for the tax credit by 10 years, while also creating a new three-year window for new facilities to qualify. Doing so will help ensure our nation continues to realize the benefits of refined coal technology.”

Facilities that are eligible to claim the refined coal tax credit must be in place before Dec. 31, 2011. The bill would allow these facilities to continue claiming the credit for an additional 10 years. Also, the legislation would allow new refined coal facilities to qualify for the credit by Jan. 1, 2022.

“The refined coal credit allows our innovators the space and tools they need to further develop clean coal,” Cramer said. “27 percent of U.S. and 66 percent of North Dakota’s electricity is generated with coal. Without it, we lose our most reliable, low-cost fuel for base load generation.”