Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., recently enacted several bills to promote the investment in renewable energy and reduce the state's dependence on foreign oil.
‘These bills will keep New Mexico's rapidly growing clean energy economy moving forward,’ Richardson explains. ‘New Mexico is showing that we can create jobs through spurring significant investment in electricity generation from our world-class solar and wind resources, promoting advanced coal technologies, building more efficient homes and offices, and increasing the production and use of biodiesel.’
The governor signed Senate Bill (S.B.) 994, which is a tax credit that may be given to developers building a renewable energy generating facility, including wind and solar. S.B.463 was also signed by the governor – it contains several tax incentives that were originally proposed as separate bills.
S.B.463 includes the Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Amendments for wind, solar and biomass projects; the Sustainable Building Tax Credit that gives owners of new or renovated sustainable buildings a tax credit based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating system; and the Solar Energy Systems Gross Receipts that allows property owners to deduct receipts from their gross receipts for the installation of photovoltaic, wind, biomass, solar thermal or hydrogen systems.
