Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the release of its first Annual Table listing greenhouse gas emissions rates for facilities eligible for Clean Electricity Production and Investment Tax Credits. These credits, known as technology-neutral credits, are part of tax code sections 45Y and 48E.

The purpose of the Clean Electricity Credits is to foster innovation by allowing emerging technologies to qualify over time. The newly released Annual Table confirms that certain clean electricity facilities, such as geothermal, nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, wind, solar, hydropower, marine and hydrokinetic energy sources, and specific waste energy recovery properties qualify for these credits in line with recent final rules.

For facility types not covered in the Annual Table, taxpayers can request a Provisional Emissions Rate (PER). The National Labs will evaluate these requests following the final rules. For instance, combustion and gasification facilities need a lifecycle emissions analysis per statutory requirements. In contrast, non-combustion facilities like fuel cells using electrolytic hydrogen require only a technical assessment of their energy transformation process without a full lifecycle analysis. The Department of Energy anticipates completing this assessment soon to expedite PER requests for such fuel cells.