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Dear Secretary Chu and Commissioner Shulman:
We are writing to request your full consideration of applications for tax credits under Section 48C of the Internal Revenue Code submitted to the Department of Energy and Internal Revenue Service to support advanced energy projects in the State of Michigan.
The State of Michigan, through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), has developed an aggressive strategy to diversify our economy through investments in growth sectors that build on the state’s strengths in advanced manufacturing, research and development, and engineering and design. One of these sectors is alternative energy and energy efficiency.
The MEDC has pursued initiatives to establish, grow and sustain alternative energy clusters in six targeted industries: Advanced Biofuels, Advanced Energy Storage, Wind Turbine Manufacturing, Solar/Photovoltaic, Water Technology, and Carbon Capture/Sequestration. These efforts leverage investments of the private sector, universities and national laboratories, as well as state and local government.
This model was demonstrated in the area of advanced battery technology, and we are grateful that appreciate the Department of Energy’s recognition of these highly focused efforts with its investment of $1.3 billion in Michigan to support domestic advanced battery and electric vehicle manufacturing
Our state continues to struggle with the highest unemployment rate in the nation even as our highly skilled workers are poised to take a leadership role in addressing the twin challenges of carbon emissions and achieving energy independence.
The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act made $2.3 billion in tax credits available under Section 48C of the Internal Revenue Code for qualified investments in advanced energy manufacturing projects. The goal of the Section 48C credits is to
enhance the domestic manufacturing capacity in clean energy industries including: renewable energy, energy storage technologies, advanced transmission technologies, renewable fuels, energy conservation technologies, plug-in electric vehicles and components, carbon capture and sequestration. These tax credits are intended to support the larger goals of the Recovery Act to stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The MEDC has identified several applications for 48C tax credits that are consistent with its strategy for alternative energy investments. In each case, the MEDC has invested resources in the project or company or is in the process of reviewing such and investment. They are:
• Clairvoyant Energy – Redevelopment of former automotive assembly plant into a solar panel manufacturing facility.
• Dow Chemical – Market development plant and R&D facility for advanced solar technologies; advanced automotive engine technology to reduce soot emissions.
• Dow Corning – Investments in two advanced solar material manufacturing facilities.
• Merrill Technologies – Investment in a facility to produce wind turbine components.
• Ven Tower – Diversification into wind turbine component manufacturing.
• Xtreme Power - Redevelopment of former automotive assembly plant into a facility to manufacture energy storage systems.
• United Solar Ovonic – Upgrade technology at existing facilities to improve the efficiency of solar laminates and increase factory throughput capacity.
• Loc Performance Products – Investment in manufacturing equipment to produce components for utility scale wind turbines.
• Energetx Composites - Investment in facility infrastructure to manufacture wind turbine blades, cells and related components.
These applications have been judged by the MEDC to be highly consistent with the State of Michigan’s economic diversification strategy that includes leveraging our strengths as a leader in clean manufacturing technologies. We strongly support these companies’ efforts to invest in new industries and create new jobs, and we respectfully urge you to give full consideration to these applications.
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