Reunion
May 17, 2024
Reunion's Process for Buying Transferable Clean Energy Tax Credits
Tax and treasury teams can purchase clean energy tax credits with confidence by working with Reunion on project selection, due diligence, and risk mitigation.
For Buyers
The market for clean energy tax credit transfers has accelerated rapidly in 2024, as corporate tax and treasury leaders see a significant new opportunity to reduce tax liabilities and increase corporate cash availability.
A complete transferable clean energy tax credit transaction, from identifying the opportunity to closing the deal, can be summarized in seven key steps.
Duration
Varies by company.
Goals and activities
How Reunion helps
Through an introductory call, Reunion's transactions team can equip your company with insights on eligibility, appropriateness, market dynamics, and risk. We can also help your team prepare a business case/investment committee memo and provide supporting materials. For larger organizations, Reunion has organized tax credit "workshops," which we have found are particularly effective for aligning multiple functional teams.
Key resources
- Transferable tax credit handbook
- How early investors are approaching clean energy tax credits
- Sample business case or investment committee memo (by request)
Duration
One to three weeks.
Goals and activities
How Reunion helps
Reunion takes a "push" and "pull" approach when helping companies find projects that most align with their needs. On the "push" front, we curate a list of tax credit opportunities based on the criteria we identified in step one and share it with your team. For many companies, we do this on a rolling basis as new projects join our platform. On the "pull" front, we provide your team with access to our managed tax credit marketplace, where we have over $7B (and growing) in near-term tax credits available.
Once your team has the right project(s) in mind, Reunion will populate our form term sheet on your company's behalf. We'll levarage our market intelligence to ensure your proposal is competitive and assist you in negotiating key terms, like timing of payment, indemnification, and tax credit insurance.
Key resources
- Tax credit marketplace
- Transferable tax credit transactions tracker
- Unlocking the economic benefits of tax credits before payment
- Sample term sheet (by request)
Duration
One to two weeks.
Goals and activities
How Reunion helps
Reunion conducts a preliminary screen to identify any major issues up front ("fatal flaw" due diligence analysis). From that point, we consult with your team to assess risks and recommend appropriate mitigation strategies. Importantly, this step ensures alignment of incentives: we do not want to move a transaction forward unless there is a high probability of success.
We also provide validated market intelligence to compare your proposed transaction to the risk/reward profile of similar tax credit opportunities in the market.
Key resources
- Buying and selling clean energy tax credits
- What should corporations expect to pay for clean energy tax credits?
- Due diligence checklist (by request)
Duration
Two to six weeks. The precise duration depends largely on the number and relatively complexity of projects in the transaction.
Goals and activities
How Reunion helps
Reunion spearheads the due diligence process by:
- Reviewing documents provided by the Seller, and requesting any missing or incomplete information
- Creating and organizing a data room, ensuring that due diligence documentation meets Reunion's checklist of required documentation
- Reunion will produce a summary due diligence memorandum summarizing our findings and highlighting any areas of concern
- If you are working with additional diligence advisors, Reunion will work closely with advisors to organize and accelerate their review process, reducing costs
Key resources
- Due diligence checklist (by request)
Duration
This step is optional and runs in parallel to step 4.
Goals and activities
How Reunion helps
Reunion can help companies decide if insurance is an appropriate risk mitigation tool for their transaction. If we collectively determine that tax credit insurance makes sense, we can advise on insurance offerings, including the scope of coverage – e.g., structure, qualification, recapture, PWA, bonus credit adders – and where gaps might exist.
We can also help you validate that the insurance policy is appropriately sized and includes penalties and tax gross-up and contest costs.
Key resources
Duration
This step runs in parallel to step 4.
Goals and activities
How Reunion helps
Reunion streamlines the negotiation process for buyers and sellers by providing a template legal document and helping parties focus on the most pertinent deal topics.
Key resources
Duration
Ongoing duration depending on credit type.
Goals and activities
How Reunion helps
Our transactions team will issue both parties reminders about filing requirements and deadlines, including tax forms and compliance. In subsequent tax years/quarters, Reunion will provide early acccess to new deals.
Key resources
Reunion’s team of clean energy and tax credit experts are here to support you through the entire process of buying and conducting due diligence on IRA tax credits. We draw on our deep expertise to help you navigate tax credit transactions, and our marketplace features the widest pool of tax credit opportunities available in the industry.
Our key differentiators include:
- Widest pool of high quality tax credits: We curate opportunities from our $10B+ marketplace, featuring technologies and projects ranging from under $3M to $300m+
- Extensive educational materials: We offer an extensive resource library featuring content on financial, legal, and market-related topics pertaining to IRA tax credits
- Hands-on due diligence: We support buyers throughout the transaction process, ensuring that the due diligence is performed at high quality and that risks are minimized upfront, saving you time and expense
- Industry-leading transaction team: Reunion has facilitated more than $2 billion in tax credit transfers in 2024. Our transaction team consists of industry veterans, with experience raising $5+ billion in clean energy project financing `with partners such as US Bank, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Key Bank, PNC, Nord/LB, D.E. Shaw, First Reserve, and over a dozen Fortune 500 companies
- Market intelligence tools: Available upon request, we offer proprietary insights on tax credit pricing and data on key trends
Billy Lee
April 16, 2024
Reunion's Quarterly Seller "Office Hours" for Clean Energy Developers and Manufacturers
Reunion is excited to host quarterly webinars for clean energy developers who would like to learn more about our marketplace and get a pulse on the overall transferability market.
For Sellers
Reunion is excited to host quarterly “office hours” for clean energy developers who would like to learn more about our marketplace and get a pulse on the overall transferability market.
Hosted on a quarterly basis
We will generally hold office hours on a quarterly basis and open registration one or two months in advance.
Designed for clean energy developers and manufacturers
Our office hours are designed for clean energy developers and manufacturers who have transferred, or are planning to transfer, IRA tax credits over the next 12 months. Developers need not have projects in Reunion's marketplace to participate.
Co-hosted by Reunion's founders
Reunion's founders, Billy Lee and Andy Moon, will co-host the hour-long sessions.
Billy and Andy pioneered solar financing structures with tax equity and private equity investors, leading some of the first solar transactions with institutions such as US Bank, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Key Bank, PNC, Nord/LB, D.E. Shaw, and First Reserve.
Questions welcome!
We want our office hours to be interactive, so please bring any questions you have, whether related to current market conditions, pricing, or commercial terms.
You're welcome to ask questions beforehand.
Denis Cook
April 11, 2024
Spotlight on the Inflation Reduction Act's Energy Community Bonus Credit Adder
The IRA created three bonus credits, including the location-based energy community adder. As developers make siting decisions based on the energy community bonus, corporate taxpayers should familiarize themselves with the credit's mechanics and scope.
For Sellers
For Buyers
The latest energy community guidance, which meaningfully expanded the number of qualifying areas, placed the 10% adder back in the spotlight for the transferable tax credit marketplace. At the same time, Reunion has observed a marked increase in the number of projects in our marketplace claiming the energy community bonus.
While our transferable tax credit handbook goes deep on energy communities, we wanted to share a comprehensive (and refreshed) look at the adder.
Our guide begins with the basics, so we invite you to jump ahead.
- Background and scope
- Credit and project eligibility
- Diligence
- Guidance
- Annual updates to areas qualifying as energy communities
- Resources
The Inflation Reduction Act created three bonus credits, or "adders"
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) created three "bonus" credits that can increase the value of a clean energy project's transferable tax credits:
- Domestic content: 10% bonus
- Energy community: 10% bonus
- Low-income community: 10% or 20% bonus
The energy community adder provides a 10% bonus credit
The energy community bonus provides a 10% increase to a project's credit value if the underlying project is located in an energy community (and meets prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements).
A utility-scale solar project, for instance, that meets PWA requirements would receive tax credits worth 30% of its eligible cost basis. If the same project is located in an energy community, it would receive tax credits worth 40% of its eligible basis.
The IRA defines three types of energy communities
To qualify for the energy community bonus, a project must be located in at least one of three energy community "categories."
Category 1: Brownfield
A brownfield site is defined in 42 U.S.C. § 9601(39)(A) as "real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant" (as defined under 42 U.S.C. § 9601), and includes certain "mine-scarred land" (as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 9601(39)(D)(ii)(III)). A Brownfield site does not include the categories of property described in 42 U.S.C. § 9601(39)(B).
Three types of sites qualify as a brownfield under a safe harbor:
- Existing brownfield: Brownfields that are already tracked by a federal, state, territorial, or federally-recognized Indian tribal brownfields program. Many states, like Idaho and New York, have their own brownfields programs with supporting maps. A valid brownfield site could be tracked by a state program but not a federal program, and vice versa
- Phase II assessment: A Phase II Assessment has been completed with respect to the site and such Phase II Assessment confirms the presence on the site of a hazardous substance as defined under 42 U.S.C. § 9601(14), or a pollutant or contaminant as defined under 42 U.S.C. § 9601(33)
- Phase 1 assessment (for projects with a nameplate capacity of not greater than 5MWac): A Phase I Assessment has been completed with respect to the site and such Phase I Assessment identifies the presence or potential presence on the site of a hazardous substance, or a pollutant or contaminant.
Category 2: Coal closure
A census tract (or directly adjoining census tract):
- in which a coal mine has closed after 1999; or
- in which a coal-fired electric generating unit has been retired after 2009
Category 3: Statistical area
A "metropolitan statistical area" (MSA) or "non-metropolitan statistical area" (non-MSA) that has (or had at any time after 2009):
- 0.17% or greater direct employment or 25% or greater local tax revenues related to the extraction, processing, transport, or storage of coal, oil, or natural gas; and
- has an unemployment rate or above the national average unemployment rate for the previous year
The scope of "direct employment" is determined by ten NAICS codes.
No double bonus for multiple energy communities
If a clean energy project is located in two energy communities – a brownfield site within a coal community, for instance – the bonus remains 10%. Developers cannot double up.
Bonus credits cannot be sold in stand-alone tranches
Bonus credits are not treated differently from base credits for the purpose of transferability. Treasury guidance released in June 2023 specified that all transferable credits must be sold as “vertical slices” and be pari passu to one another, as opposed to “horizontally” bifurcating bonus credits from base credits.
Four IRA credits are eligible for the energy community bonus
The IRA created 11 transferable tax credits, four of which are eligible for the energy community bonus:
- §45 PTC: Electricity produced from certain renewable resources
- §45Y PTC: Clean electricity production credit
- §48 ITC: Energy credit
- §48E ITC: Clean electricity investment credit
§48 and §48E ITC eligibility determined on placed-in-service date
For projects that claim an investment tax credit under §48 or §48E, eligibility for the energy community bonus credit is determined on the date that the project is placed in service (PIS) and is not tested again.
Because eligibility is determined on a PIS date that is subject to potential delays, developers should think carefully about how to incorporate the statistical area category into their financial assumptions.
The statistical area category is determined annually, based on the prior year's unemployment rate. As the IRS FAQs state, "Because an MSA's or non-MSA's status as an energy community depends on its unemployment rate for the previous year, an MSA or non-MSA that qualifies as an energy community in one period might not qualify as an energy community in a later period if its unemployment rate for the previous year falls below the national average."
§45 and §45Y PTC eligibility determined annually with a beginning-of-construction safe harbor
For projects that claim a production tax credit under §45 or §45Y, eligibility for the energy community bonus credit must be determined every year during the ten-year PTC period. Theoretically, a wind project could qualify one year under the statistical area category but not qualify the following year because of a change in employment rates.
However, the IRS created a safe harbor for PTC projects with beginning-of-construction dates on or after January 1, 2023. If the project owner determines that the project is eligible for the energy community bonus credit on the date construction is considered to have started for tax purposes, then the project will qualify for the bonus credit for the entire ten-year PTC period and is not tested again.
For insights on how the Energy Community Bonus Credit impacts a real-world transaction, refer to our Section 45 PTC transfer case study, which examines implications and lessons learned.
"Legacy" §45 PTCs are not eligible for energy community bonus
Projects that generate §45 PTCs that were placed in service before December 31, 2022 are not eligible for the energy community bonus, even if the project happens to be located in an energy community and is within its ten-year period of credit generation.
The December 31, 2022 date is set in the IRA itself (H.R.5376).
50% of a project's nameplate capacity (or square footage) must be in an energy community
A project qualifies for the energy community bonus if at least half (50%) of its nameplate capacity is in an energy community. According to the IRS, nameplate capacity is the DC capacity that a project is capable of producing on a steady-state basis during continuous operation under standard conditions.
For battery storage projects, at least half (50%) of the storage capacity, as measured in megawatt hours, should be in an energy community.
Lastly, for projects that do not generate nor store energy, like biogas, the 50% threshold is measured on a square footage basis.
When performing due diligence on the energy community bonus, it's helpful to approach the process based on the credit type and energy community category.
Credit type
ITCs
Tax credit buyers should request documentation that demonstrates when and where the project was placed in service. Then, buyers and their advisors should crosswalk that location to an appropriate energy community siting resource, like one of the IRS's appendices. (We provide links to these appendices in the guidance section of this post.)
When validating a project's location, it's important to keep the "50%" rule in mind.
PTCs
Due diligencing the energy community bonus for PTCs is effectively the same as ITCs, although buyers will want to validate when and where the project began construction (versus when and where the project was placed in service). Once again, it's important to keep the "50%" rule in mind.
Energy community category
As far as each category is concerned, the statistical area and coal closure categories are relatively straightforward from a due diligence standpoint: the IRS has published lists of areas that qualify for each. The brownfield category, however, may present a slightly more nuanced due diligence process.
Statistical area
It's important to recall that the statistical area category changes every year, based on the prior year's unemployment rate. As we'll discuss below, the IRS is obligated to publish updates to this category every year, generally in May.
Coal closure
Unlike the statistical area category, the coal closure category cannot shrink – that is, once an area qualifies as a coal closure, it remains as such for the duration of the energy community bonus.
However, the coal closure category can expand, and we fully expect it to do so. According to a 2022 analysis by the Energy Information Agency (EIA), nearly a quarter of the operating U.S. coal-fired fleet is scheduled to retire by 2029. Every closure will add more census tracts to the list of areas eligible for the energy community bonus.
Brownfield
The IRS has not published – and, as far as we know, has no plans to publish – a consolidated list of areas that qualify as brownfields for purposes of the energy community bonus. In fact, the DOE energy community map doesn't even include federally-recognized brownfield sites. (The EPA, however, maintains a list of federally-recognized brownfields in its cleanups in my community map.)
We doubt the IRS or any federal agency will publish a definitive list of brownfields. There are simply too many moving parts across federal, state, local, and tribal brownfields programs.
So, an opinion from an environmental attorney may be warranted, and the scope of the opinion will vary based on which of the three brownfields safe harbors a project is claiming.
Latest guidance expands the number of areas that are eligible for the energy community bonus
The most recent IRS guidance, Notice 2024-30, broadened eligibility for the energy community bonus through two key changes:
- Expansion of the "nameplate capacity attribution rule"
- Inclusion of two additional NAICS codes – which are in our list above – for determining the fossil fuel employment rate for a statistical area category
Expansion of the nameplate capacity attribution rule
The "nameplate capacity attribution rule" pertains to projects with offshore generation – namely, offshore wind – that have a nameplate capacity but are not located within a census tract, an MSA, or a non-MSA. The rule, essentially, allows developers to allocate their offshore nameplate capacity onshore for purposes of qualifying for the energy community bonus.
Prior to Notice 2024-30, the attribution rule generally allowed offshore wind projects to qualify for the energy community bonus if their power-conditioning equipment closest to the point of interconnection was in an energy community.
Notice 2024-30 expanded the nameplate capacity attribution rule to include not only power-conditioning equipment, but also supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) equipment.
SCADA equipment must be owned by the developer and located in an "energy community project port." To qualify as an energy community project port, a port must:
- Be used "either full or part-time to facilitate maritime operations necessary for the installation or operation and maintenance" of the project
- Have a "significant long-term relationship" with the project, meaning the developer owns or leases all or part of the port for a minimum term of ten years
- Be the location at which staff employed by, or working as independent contractors for, the project are based and perform functions essential to the project's operations. Essential functions include "management of marine operations, inventory and handling of spare parts and consumables, and berthing and dispatch of operation and maintenance vessels and associated crews and technicians"
Inclusion of two additional NAICS codes
Notice 2024-30 added two additional NAICS codes for determining the fossil fuel employment rate for a statistical area category:
- 2212: Natural gas distribution
- 23712: Oil and gas and pipeline and related structures construction
These NAICS codes cover workers in local gas distribution companies and construction workers on oil and gas pipelines.
According to Norton Rose Fulbright, "The biggest additions to the list of potentially eligible counties are in six Midwestern states: Minnesota (57), Missouri (57), Illinois (28), North Dakota (23), Wisconsin (23) and Indiana (20)."
The IRS has released five pieces of energy community guidance, with regulations to come soon
Energy community regulations should arrive by June 30, 2024
As Notice 2024-30 notes, proposed regulations are forthcoming. Until then, "taxpayers may rely on the rules described in sections 3 through 6 of Notice 2023-29, as previously clarified by Notice 2023-45 and modified by section 3 [of] this notice, for taxable years ending after April 4, 2023."
Based on the Q2 update to the IRS 2023-2024 Priority Guidance Plan, energy community regulations should arrive before the end of the current "plan year," which concludes on June 30, 2024.
Where to find the latest guidance
The IRS and Treasury maintain lists of IRA-related guidance, including guidance specific to the energy community adder. Although the lists generally overlap, there may be differences based on when each website was last updated.
Below is a close look at all the guidance that's been released through March 2024.
Notice 2022-51: Request for Comments on Prevailing Wage, Apprenticeship, Domestic Content, and Energy Communities Requirements under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
- Date: October 5, 2022
- News release: IRS
- Companion documents: N/A
Notice 2023-29: Energy Community Bonus Credit Amounts under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
- Date: April 4, 2023
- News release: IRS
- Companion documents: Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C
Notice 2023-45: Energy Community Bonus Credit Amounts under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
Notice 2023-47: Energy Community Bonus Credit Amounts or Rates (Annual Statistical Area Category Update and Coal Closure Category Update)
- Date: June 15, 2023
- News release: IRS
- Companion documents: Appendix 1, Appendix 2, Appendix 3
Notice 2024-30: Energy Community Bonus Credit Amounts under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
- Date: March 22, 2024
- News release: IRS
- Companion documents: Appendix 1, Appendix 2
Expect energy community eligibility updates every May, beginning in 2024
According to Notice 2023-29, "The Treasury Department and the IRS intend to update the listing of the Statistical Area Category based on Fossil Fuel Employment annually. These updates generally will be issued annually in May."
The first update should arrive in May 2024 – that is, next month.
DOE, EPA, and IRS have provided energy community eligibility and project siting resources
U.S. federal agencies who are responsible for administering or managing parts of the energy community bonus credit have published several key resources that are valuable to buyers, sellers, and their advisors:
- Department of Energy (DOE): Energy community map
- IRS: Frequently asked questions
- DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL): Frequently asked questions
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): RE-powering America's land initiative
- EPA: Cleanups in my community
- Interagency working group: Energy community tax credit bonus
To learn more, you can download our 100-page transferable tax credit handbook or start a conversation with our transactions team.
Andy Moon
May 7, 2024
Webinar Recording: Navigating the Tax Credit Transfer Process for Corporate Taxpayers
Please join Reunion's CEO, Andy Moon, and President, Billy Lee, for an interactive webinar for corporate taxpayers who are considering purchasing IRA tax credits in 2024. The 60-minute session will prepare tax and treasury teams to efficiently pursue a transferable tax credit transaction.
For Buyers
Recording
Overview
For corporate taxpayers who are considering purchasing tax credits in 2024, please join Reunion's transactions team – with 50+ years of combined experience in tax credits – for a 60-minute workshop to walk through a sample tax credit transfer.
The webinar will equip tax and treasury teams with the information and resources they need to efficiently pursue a tax credit transaction.
Topics
The interactive workshop will include three 15-minute modules and five minutes of Q&A per module.
Speakers
Reunion's CEO, Andy Moon, and President, Billy Lee, will co-host the webinar. Over the course of their careers in clean energy financing, Andy and Billy have executed over $2B in transactions across a range of technologies.
Denis Cook
October 8, 2024
IRA Transferable Tax Credit Tracker
Since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, clean energy tax credit transfers have accelerated across a variety of technologies, credits, and deal sizes. To track the evolution of the market, Reunion is maintaining a list of publicly announced transfers.
For Sellers
For Buyers
Our data
- Quarter: The quarter in which the deal closed. Occassionally, deals are announced in the quarter after which they closed.
- Credit: The type of credit(s) involved in the transaction. Although most transactions involve a single credit type, like a §48 ITC, some deals involve multiple credits.
- Technology: The clean energy technology, like commerical and industrial solar or battery storage, behind the transaction. Emerging technologies, like hydrogen, can meaningfully impact pricing.
- Amount: A deal's amount represents the total, lifetime value of the transaction. When a range is provided – for instance, Broadwind's estimate of $12M to $14M per year – we use the lower bound.
- Source: The primary source from which we collected transactions data. In some instances, we rely on multiple sources for the data we've presented.
We generally post announcements from tax credit sellers to prevent duplication of transactions.
Publicly announced IRA clean energy tax credit transfer deals
Submit a transaction
If you know of a tax credit transfer that is not on our list, please contact us. We want to keep our list up-to-date.
Denis Cook
January 19, 2024
Direct Pay and Domestic Content: Understanding the Elective Payment Phaseout
In Notice 2024-9, the IRS provided guidance on domestic content requirements for applicable entities using direct pay
For Sellers
In December 2023, the IRS issued Notice 2024-9, which details how "applicable entities" can satisfy the Inflation Reduction Act's domestic content requirements when using elective pay (which is often called "direct pay"). In particular, projects beginning construction on or after January 1, 2024 may have the value of their tax credit reduced if domestic content requirements are not met.
The IRS refers to the time-based credit reductions as the "statutory elective payment phaseouts."
Applicable credits
The required use of domestic content under elective pay applies to the following credits:
- §45: Electricity produced from certain renewable sources
- §45Y: Clean electricity production credit (technology-neutral PTC)
- §48: Energy credit
- §48E: Clean electricity investment credit (technology-neutral ITC)
Details for each credit can be found in our overview of IRA tax credits.
Applicable entities
Applicable entities subject to the statutory elective payment phaseouts include:
- Organizations exempt from income tax
- Any state or political subdivision thereof
- The Tennessee Valley Authority
- An Indian tribal government
- Rural energy cooperatives
- Alaska Native corporations
Credit reduction
The percentage of credit available to an applicable entity making a direct pay election is determined by multiplying the credit value by an "applicable percentage." Applicable percentages are as follows:
- 100%: Project meets domestic content requirements and/or has a net output of less than one megawatt (alternating current)
- 90%: Project begins construction on or after January 1, 2024 and doesn't meet either of the "100%" requirements
- 85%: Project begins construction on or after January 1, 2025 and doesn't meet either of the "100%" requirements
- 0%: Project begins construction on or after January 1, 2026 and doesn't meet either of the "100%" requirements
Exceptions
The IRS provided two exceptions to the domestic content requirement. If either exception applies, the applicable percentage is 100%.
- Increased cost exception: The inclusion of steel, iron, or manufactured products that are produced in the U.S. increases the project's overall costs of construction by more than 25%
- Non-availability exception: The relevant steel, iron, or manufactured products are not produced in the U.S. in sufficient and reasonably available quantities or of satisfactory quality
Attestation
Applicable entities can claim one of the above exceptions from the phaseout by attaching an attestation to the relevant tax form claiming the credit – form 8835 or form 3468.
The attestation must:
- Be signed by an individual with the power to bind the applicable entity in federal tax matters
- Be made under the penalties of perjury
- State that the entity has reviewed the requirements for each exception and has made a good faith determination that one or both apply
Reunion Accelerates Investment Into Clean Energy
Reunion’s team has been at the forefront of clean energy financing for the last twenty years. We help CFOs and corporate tax teams purchase clean energy tax credits through a detailed and comprehensive transaction process.
