Sep. 30--U.S. Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., unveiled bills today that would provide $100 million in tax credits for energy efficient commercial buildings and allow residential fuel cells to get the same tax breaks as fuel cells used in businesses.

Wu, a Portland Democrat, said he modeled his "building energy tax credit" after Oregon's business energy tax credit. Businesses from wind farms to ethanol taps have tapped that credit for millions in state tax breaks.

Residential energy efficiency improvements, wind projects and other alternative energy projects already receive federal tax subsidies.

In a press release, Wu called the lack of a break for energy efficiency improvements a "gaping hole" in federal support for sustainable buildings.

Mark Edlen of Portland-based Gerding Edlen Development, one of Oregon's top green builders, is also backing the bill, H.R. 3659. The federal program would be administered by states and give a tax credit of up to 35 percent of the total cost of a project to buildings that exceed energy efficiency standards by at least 40 percent.

The credit would be capped at $4 a square foot, which Wu said would guard against developers inflating a construction project's total cost to claim a larger tax credit.

Wu's legislation copies a unique feature of the Oregon tax credit that allows tax-exempt groups to make improvements and pass the tax credit through to for-profit businesses in exchange for a lump-sum payment.

Wu also introduced a fuel cell tax parity bill, HR 3660, designed to encourage use of residential fuel cells. The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Rep Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif.

Current law gives a larger production tax credit to commercial uses, Wu said. But other renewable energy sources, including solar, geothermal and wind, are treated the same in commercial and residential applications.

ClearEdge Power, headquartered in Hillsboro, and the U.S. Fuel Cell Council are backing the fuel cell bill.

-----

To see more of The Oregonian, or to subscribe the newspaper, go to http://www.oregonian.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.