05.06.19

Hoeven, Cramer Reintroduce Legislation Supporting Continued Use of Refined Coal to Reduce Emissions

WASHINGTON – Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer today reintroduced legislation to extend the refined coal tax credit. The credit incentivizes power plants to pre-treat or refine coal to improve efficiency and decrease emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and mercury. 

“The use of refined coal is a strong example of using technology to improve environmental stewardship while still relying on abundant, affordable energy sources like coal,” said Senator Hoeven. “For many facilities that use refined coal, this tax credit has already or will soon expire. Accordingly, our legislation would extend existing facilities’ eligibility for the tax credit by 10 years, while also creating a new three-year window for new facilities to qualify. Doing so will help ensure our nation continues to realize the benefits of refined coal technology.”

“The refined coal credit allows our innovators the space and tools they need to further develop clean coal,” said Senator Cramer. “27% of U.S. and 66% of North Dakota’s electricity is generated with coal. Without it, we lose our most reliable, low cost fuel for base load generation.”

All facilities currently eligible to claim the refined coal tax credit must have been placed in service before December 31, 2011. The Hoeven-Cramer legislation would allow these facilities to continue claiming the credit for an additional 10 years. 

The bill also establishes a 3-year window, from December 31, 2018 through January 1, 2022, in which new refined coal facilities would be able to qualify for the credit. This would not only benefit the coal-generating power plants in North Dakota that use refined coal, it will also support the work of the Energy and Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota, which provides services to facilities around the nation to verify that the refined coal meets the standards required to claim the credit.

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