Committee approves substitute to refine commercial wind and solar tax credits, adds storage-duration requirement

Senate Bill 192 (first substitute), presented by Senator Rollins, received a unanimous favorable recommendation from the Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy & Technology Committee after sponsor remarks and supportive testimony from industry and clean-energy advocates.

Rollins said the measure refines existing commercial wind and solar tax credits to better target incentives as the solar industry grows and to promote energy storage and reliability. The bill requires commercial wind and solar energy systems of 660 kilowatts or larger to qualify and updates tax-credit language so that eligible storage is not limited to batteries. In committee discussion Rollins described an initial proposal for longer-duration storage that was narrowed after stakeholder input; the first substitute sets a six-hour storage-duration standard for qualifying storage systems. Rollins also said he is considering grandfathering projects already in development queue but that such a change was not included in the substitute before the committee.

Committee members asked about the fiscal note; Rollins said a fiscal note had not yet been issued and suggested it could be zero because the measure steps back some subsidies in current practice. Public comment included Josh Brown of the Inner West Energy Alliance, who said industry is studying commercially viable storage durations, and Josh Kraft, government relations director for Utah Clean Energy, who urged continued dialogue on technical standards and said batteries and storage help make variable energy resources more dispatchable.

Senator Winterton moved that the committee favorably recommend the first substitute to SB 192; the motion passed by unanimous voice vote. The transcript does not record a roll-call tally. The substitute passed out of committee and will proceed to the Senate floor for further consideration.