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Panel introduces RS to let counties hold preference votes on commercial wind projects and impose excise tax
Summary
Representative Jeff Ehlers introduced RS 32471, which would require a county preference election for commercial wind projects of more than 100 feet and allow an excise tax on turbines; Ehlers cited an excise rate of $25,000 per height foot, which he estimated would be about $2.5 million per turbine for a typical turbine height.
The House Revenue and Taxation Committee introduced RS 32471 on Feb. 24, a proposal from Representative Jeff Ehlers that would give county voters a preference election on large commercial wind projects and authorize an excise tax on turbines if voters do not approve a project.
Ehlers described the measure as focused on commercial windmills "that exceed a hundred feet or more in height." He said the measure would put a preference election to voters in the county where a project would be located; if voters do not approve, the sponsor said an excise tax would be imposed on turbines. Ehlers explained the choice of an excise tax in part so an assessment could apply to projects on federal public lands.
When asked about the size of the excise tax, Ehlers said the bill contemplates "$25,000 per height, foot of height," and added that "your average windmill height, it'd be about a $2,500,000 excise tax per turbine." Representative Birch said she would support introducing the RS to hold a hearing but expressed concern about precedent, saying she worried the measure could "tax the free market out of the ability to do things that are legal."
Ehlers told the committee that revenue from any excise tax would be directed into the property tax relief mechanism established in prior legislation rather than solely to county coffers, saying county-level distribution alone would take "several hundred years" to produce comparable property tax relief.
Representative Birch moved to introduce RS 32471; the motion carried by voice vote and the RS was introduced for further committee consideration. The transcript records questions from Representative Hill and Representative Shepherd during discussion but no amendments were offered on the record.
