FACTBOX: Energy tax breaks in Wall Street bailout package
(Reuters) - The U.S. Senate approved late on Wednesday a $700 billion Wall Street rescue package that also includes billions of dollars in energy tax breaks. The House of Representatives will vote on the measure later this week.
The energy tax breaks in Senate legislation do the following:
* Extend through 2009 the tax credit for producing electricity from wind and through 2010 for using ocean energy waves and trash combustion facilities to produce power.
* Extend through 2016 a tax credit for 30 percent of the cost for businesses and homeowners to install solar energy equipment.
* Provide tax credit for purchasing plug-in electric vehicles, ranging from $2,500 to $7,500, depending on the size of the engine.
* Extend through 2009 tax credits for homeowners that install insulation and energy-efficient windows, water heaters, and heating and air conditioning systems.
* Extend through 2010 tax credit for manufacturers that make energy-efficient dishwashers, clothes washers and refrigerators.
* Authorize $800 million for new clean renewable energy bonds to pay for facilities that generate electricity from wood, closed-loop biomass, open-loop biomass, geothermal, small irrigation, qualified hydropower, landfill gas, marine renewable and trash combustion facilities.
* Provide $1.5 billion in tax credits for advanced coal-powered electricity projects that capture and store carbon dioxide emissions.
* Allow companies to immediately write off 50 percent of the cost for facilities in place by 2013 that produce cellulosic biofuels ethanol.
* Extend through 2009 $1 per gallon production tax credit for biodiesel and 10-cent per gallon credit for small biodiesel producers.
* Extend through 2010 the 30 percent tax credit for service stations to install natural gas and E85 alternative energy pumps and extends it to electric vehicle recharging equipment.
* Extend for two years immediate write-off of cost to expand an oil refinery's capacity by 5 percent, and expand the tax break to refineries that process oil from shale or tar sands.
* Provide $10 million to employers to help offset the cost of storage costs for their workers who commute by bicycle.
(Reporting by Tom Doggett)
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