Special Assessment for Wind Energy Systems

June 29, 2020

Summary

For the purposes of property tax assessment, utility-owned wind projects are considered to have a value equal to their salvage value, with certain limitations. This incentive effectively lowers the property tax base on utility-owned wind turbines from 100% of fair market value to as little as 24.95% of fair market value.* This results in an effective property tax rate on wind turbines that is 24.95% of the effective tax rate on most other types of newly constructed electricity-generating units.

*The law states that up to 79% of the total property may be assigned salvage value. Salvage value of a pollution control facility, of which a wind turbine is considered for assessment purposes, is 5%. Therefore, if 79% of the property is valued at 5% (salvage value), and the remaining 21% of the property is valued at 100%, the effective value for property tax purposes is 24.95%.

Program Overview

Implementing Sector:	State
Category:	Financial Incentive
State:	West Virginia
Incentive Type:	Property Tax Incentive
Web Site:
Administrator:	West Virginia Division of Energy
Start Date:	7/2001
Eligible Renewable/Other Technologies:	Wind (All) Wind (Small)
Incentive Amount:	Property tax basis reduced to approximately 25% of assessed value

Authorities

Name:	W. Va. Code § 11-6A-5a
Date Enacted:	5/2001
Effective Date:	7/2001

Name:	Guide for County Assessors
Effective Date:	07/01/2011

Contact

Name:	Jeff Herholdt
Organization:	West Virginia Development Office
Address:	Bldg. 6, Room 553 Charleston WV 25305-0311
Phone:	(304) 558-2234
Email:	Jeff.h.herholdt@wv.gov

This information is sourced from DSIRE; the most comprehensive source of information on incentives and policies that support renewables and energy efficiency in the United States. Established in 1995, DSIRE is operated by the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center at N.C. State University.