Lifted from a Tennessean story on solar energy tax credits and their impact in Tennessee, which has been rated as having “the third-fastest-growing clean energy economy” in the nation:
Tennessee now gives a massive property-tax break to solar-power facilities by allowing them to be assessed at their salvage value — defined as no more than one-half of 1 percent of their initial investment costs. But companion bills filed by several Republican legislators in the General Assembly earlier this year would eliminate that break so that solar installations would be assessed and taxed based on their real value, just like other business and residential property.
“That has already pretty much shut down any new solar companies coming to Tennessee,” said Ben Macias, vice president of Shoals Technologies Group in Portland, a manufacturer of components for solar systems that has about 500 workers.
“A lot of solar-power manufacturers are coming to the Southeast, but they are on hold as far as relocating in Tennessee is concerned because of the tax question in the legislature,” he said.
For a 50-kilowatt solar system installed at a business, for instance, the change could raise the property tax $1,500 a year, said Billy Gibson, vice president for engineering and development at Integrated Solar, another Nashville company that installs home and business systems.