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Attac,,hrnent 10 <br />DAVID T. FOSTER III dtfoster@charlotteOb5erver.com <br />Solar povver advocates credit a generous state tax credit for making North Carolina second in the nation for total solar farm capacity. <br />BY 1OYIN NICIPIAWSK3 <br />Noy -Ja Carolina residents and <br />businesses claimed a record <br />quarter- billion dollars in tax <br />credits for installing and financ- <br />ing renewable energy projects <br />last ye a I-. <br />Tha ", ai ii oun -L assay well never <br />be matched because the state <br />legislature let the renewable <br />energy subsidy expire and it is <br />no longer available. But because <br />taxp,-iyers can spread out the tax <br />credit over five years, the claim <br />amourits will not suddenly van- <br />ish next year. <br />The biggest users of the tax <br />credit were insurance compa- <br />nies and other corporations, <br />although hundreds of private <br />residents also claimed the bene- <br />fit. The 2016 tax credit data was <br />issued by the N.C. Department <br />of Revenue this week. <br />The $245 million in tax <br />credits claimed last year repre- <br />sent state income taxes that <br />corporations and individuals <br />were exempted from paying that <br />year, and nearly doubles the <br />renewable tax credits claimed <br />the year before, $136.3 million. <br />The total has been doubling <br />nearly every year since 2007, <br />when North Carolina's legisla- <br />ture required electric utilities to <br />use renewables. <br />"I think you're loolcing at the <br />peak," said Stephen Kalland, <br />executive director of the N.C. <br />Clean Energy Technology Cen- <br />ter at N.C. State University. "My <br />guess is, that's the max." <br />The tax credits have been <br />rising steeply for years as North <br />Carolina vaulted to second place <br />nationally for total solar energy <br />capacity, behind just one state: <br />California. One factor that likely <br />contributed to last year's surge <br />was that 2016 was the last year <br />the tax credit was available, <br />prompting developers of renew- <br />able projects to accelerate their <br />construction schedules to qual- <br />ify for the benefit. <br />The state's renewable tax <br />credit was one of the most gene- <br />rous in the nation, cutting the <br />cost of a renewable energy pro- <br />ject by 35 percent, up to $2.5 <br />million per facility for busi- <br />nesses. When coupled with a 30 <br />percent federal tax credit, pro- <br />ject developers could cut the <br />cost of a renewable facility in <br />half. North Carolina's Repub- <br />SEE ENERGY, 10A <br />