Council backs amendment to tax self-generated commercial electricity

The Committee of the Whole on July 27 advanced an amendment to city ordinance section 106-190 to capture electric-utility-tax revenue from users who generate electricity for their own consumption, rather than purchasing power at retail. Mayor Albertini introduced the proposal as an attachment to the utility tax ordinance and said it targets regular on-site generation by commercial users.

"Essentially, this is being attached as a proposed amendment to our utility tax to capture electricity generated by a user for their own consumption as opposed to, purchased at retail," Mayor Albertini said during the presentation. City attorney (city attorney) and council members discussed the scope, with attention to industrial generator vendors sited at industrial parks and whether exemptions should apply when generators are fueled by natural gas.

Alderman Peterson moved the motion to support the amendment; Alderman Hoynes seconded. After brief discussion the council called the vote and the motion passed. The amendment, as described in the packet memo, would not apply to emergency generators and is primarily intended to align tax treatment of on-site commercial generation with taxed retail supply. The clerk recorded the motion as carried; formal ordinance language and any further exemptions will be taken up at a subsequent council session for adoption.

Why it matters: council members said the change is aimed at ensuring parity between customers who buy power through a utility supplier and those who supply their own generation in commercial or industrial settings, preserving a local revenue base as new industrial users locate in the city.