foss admin
As global demand for data-intensive services continues to rise, data centers are rapidly multiplying to meet the needs of cloud computing, AI, streaming, and e-commerce. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, data centers already consume about 2% of the nation’s electricity—a figure expected to grow significantly over the next decade. This surge presents a critical challenge and a compelling opportunity for the tax credit industry. Energy Demand Meets Sustainability Mandates While data centers are foundational to the modern economy, they are also energy-intensive and carbon-heavy. Stakeholders—from hyperscale operators to colocation providers—are under increasing pressure to reduce emissions and invest in clean energy infrastructure. As a result, tax credit programs tied to renewable energy and energy efficiency have become crucial to data center development strategies. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) expanded and extended several energy-related tax credits that directly benefit the data center sector, including the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), the Production Tax Credit (PTC), and the Section 179D deduction for energy-efficient commercial buildings. By leveraging these credits, data center operators can offset the cost of deploying solar, wind and battery storage technologies while reducing operational expenses. Tax Equity: A Critical Financing Tool Tax equity financing plays a pivotal role in enabling data centers to access the capital needed to pursue sustainability upgrades. Through tax equity partnerships, developers can monetize credits that would otherwise go unused—freeing up cash flow and accelerating the deployment of low-carbon solutions. This is particularly relevant as more operators pursue on-site renewables, green microgrids and next-generation energy management systems. For example, a hyperscale facility that installs solar plus storage could benefit from the ITC, while also qualifying for the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Credit if domestic content thresholds are met. What’s Next for the Industry As data center operators face rising energy costs, regulatory scrutiny and sustainability…
Read More
As the world races towards a sustainable future, the need for clean and renewable energy sources becomes increasingly vital. In this journey, biogas, bioenergy and renewable natural gas (RNG) are emerging as frontrunners, offering a promising solution to our energy demands. However, the path to widespread adoption requires support from various stakeholders, including tax equity investors. In this blog, we delve into the crucial role of tax equity in accelerating the energy transition and driving the advancement of biofuels. A Vision for the Future As we approach 2030, the energy transition takes center stage. Tax equity and tax credits have become instrumental in driving this transition by incentivizing investments in sustainable energy projects such as solar, carbon capture, electric vehicles (EV) and more. The involvement of tax equity investors is vital in providing financial support to biofuel developers, propelling the growth of biogas, bioenergy, and RNG projects. By channeling their investments strategically, tax equity investors play a pivotal role in shaping a greener and more sustainable future. Unveiling the Potential Biogas, biofuels, bioenergy, and RNG represent the pinnacle of sustainable energy solutions. Biogas is produced from organic waste and serves as a clean source of fuel. Biofuels are derived from renewable organic materials, providing a greener alternative to traditional fossil fuels. These fuels can be seamlessly integrated into existing infrastructure and engine technology, making them readily accessible for widespread adoption. In the quest for a sustainable future, these bio-based energy sources hold tremendous promise. Not only are biofuels compatible with existing infrastructure and engine technology, but they also offer near-to-long-term solutions that have a critical role to play. Tax equity investors facilitate the development of biofuel projects by providing the necessary funding and expertise. Their involvement enables biofuel developers to realize their visions, thereby accelerating the transition towards a sustainable…
Read More
Foss & Company is comprised of a group of experienced tax credit professionals, representing a great depth of knowledge within their respective fields. In this blog series, we highlight different Foss & Company team members to shine a light on the diverse and dedicated people that help make us who we are. As Vice President of Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technologies, Dawn Lima manages all aspects of the transaction lifecycle for both solar and carbon capture utilization and sequestration (CCUS) investments, including the identification and development of new CCUS opportunities for Foss & Company. Ms. Lima has over two decades of experience in full cycle of oil & gas energy development, spanning operations, business development and acquisitions & divestitures. To learn more about Dawn, read out latest Spotlight blog series installment: How did you get involved in the tax credit industry? By chance or even fate! After over two decades working in the Oil & Gas industry developing fossil fuel energy I was approached by Foss & Company for a position on the Carbon Capture, Utilization & Sequestration (CCUS) team. I was interested in working on renewable energy projects and Foss offered a unique opportunity. I knew little about the tax credit industry at the time but was very intrigued by tax equity investments; corporations can convert a tax liability to an attractive investment that also has a positive social impact! Tax credits and tax equity investing rings many bells: Investment versus liability, reduces the corporate tax rate, ESG project and positive social impact! What originally interested you about carbon capture and the renewable energy/sustainability industry? I have over 20 years of experience in Oil & Gas and had the opportunity to work both domestically and internationally on a variety of upstream development projects. I chose to pivot and work…
Read More
As the world increasingly recognizes the urgent need to transition to clean and renewable energy sources, governments around the globe are implementing various incentives to boost investment in the renewable energy sector. In the United States, two prominent incentives are the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and the Investment Tax Credit (ITC). Under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), these tax credits have been enhanced to further encourage the development and utilization of renewable energy projects. By gaining an understanding of how the IRA has enhanced its influence on renewable energy investment, investors can make more informed decisions when it comes to allocating their resources. Production Tax Credit The PTC has long been a crucial policy tool in promoting renewable energy in the United States. It provides a tax credit to project owners based on the electricity production from qualified renewable energy facilities. Historically, the PTC has primarily supported wind energy projects, but through the IRA, its scope has expanded to include other renewable sources such as biomass, geothermal, hydropower, and marine energy. Investment Tax Credit The ITC is another critical component of the U.S. government’s renewable energy policy framework. Unlike the PTC, which focuses on electricity generation, the ITC provides tax credits based on the capital investment in qualifying renewable energy projects. It applies to a wide range of technologies, including solar, wind, geothermal, fuel cells, and combined heat and power systems. Comparing the PTC and ITC under the IRA Under the IRA, the PTC and ITC are invaluable tools for accelerating renewable energy investment in the United States. With enhanced eligibility periods, increased credit rates, and broader technology coverage, the PTC incentivizes renewable energy production, particularly in the wind sector. The extended ITC eligibility and inclusion of energy storage systems under the IRA fosters the integration of renewable energy sources…
Read More
By Bryen Alperin, Managing Director The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) brought significant changes to the landscape of renewable energy tax credits by introducing the option of transferability. This provision allows taxpayers to transfer their renewable energy tax credits to non-related parties, creating a new avenue for accessing the benefits of clean energy investments. The IRA’s transferability provision has the potential to enhance liquidity in the renewable energy sector, attract more private capital, and accelerate the transition to a sustainable future. The IRS has now issued highly anticipated proposed regulations for the transfer of certain Federal income tax credits under Section 6418. These regulations provide much needed guidance to taxpayers who intend to make an election to transfer eligible credits as well as transferee taxpayers as to the treatment of transferred eligible credits. Clearer Guidelines for Tax Credit Transfer These proposed regulations would allow eligible taxpayers to transfer any specified portion of an eligible credit determined with respect to any eligible credit property to a transferee taxpayer in accordance with Section 6418 of the Code and §§1.6418-1 through 1.6418-5. The regulations also provide definitions for terms used throughout the section 6418 regulations, including that of an eligible taxpayer. Along with needed definitions, the time and manner to make a transfer election, and information about the pre-filing registration process, among other items have also been outlined in the proposed regulations. The Treasury Department and the IRS intend and expect that providing taxpayers with guidance that allows them to effectively use section 6418 to transfer eligible credits will beneficially impact various industries, deliver benefits across the economy, and reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions. Based on the proposed regulations, eligible taxpayers are also required to provide certain required minimum documentation to the transferee taxpayer, and the transferee taxpayer is required to retain…
Read More
By Bryen Alperin, Managing Director This blog is the second in a series that will explore the opportunities in the transferability of renewable tax credits for investing in renewable energy and reducing tax liability. The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law on August 16, 2022, has created new opportunities to invest in a sustainable future. There are many options, but one of the more promising is new transfer provisions which allow for the transfer of renewable energy tax credits between taxpayers. With these new transfer provisions, a taxpayer can purchase a tax credit generated from an eligible project, for example, at $0.90 per $1 of tax credit and then apply the credit to reduce required tax payments to the IRS by the full $1. We know enough about transferability to be certain that this added feature in the Internal Revenue Code will allow for a meaningful new avenue to access tax credits from renewable energy projects, and we expect these changes to expand the population of taxpayers that participate in the renewable tax credit market. The industry anxiously awaits guidance from the IRS on the intricacies of transferability, and when that guidance will be delivered is still uncertain. However, we do have solid visibility into what participants can expect, including that: Taxpayers can elect to transfer all or a portion of their tax credits to a non-related transferee. Payment for credits must be in cash. The tax credit amount will not be included in taxable income, nor deductible. There are no caps or phase outs (unlike direct pay). Election must be made no later than the due date (including extensions) for the respective tax return, and is irrevocable. Transferees cannot re-transfer the credits. If the tax credit is generated by a partnership, the partnership needs to make the election. Transferability…
Read More
BY BRYEN ALPERIN, DIRECTOR OF RENEWABLE ENERGY AND SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES A March 21 meeting of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a reporting framework for publicly traded companies to provide information about the carbon intensity of their businesses. Voluntary disclosure of climate risk factors has already become widespread in recent years, with the SEC estimating that about one third of regulatory filings submitted by public companies in 2019 and 2020 included some degree of environmental impact assessment. Standardizing these disclosures will make them more functional for investors as “consistent, comparable, and reliable information” on climate-related risk exposure, says the SEC’s recent guidance. Carbon accounting, the process by which emissions are calculated and attributed, has evolved in recent years thanks to work by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Their joint Greenhouse Gas Protocol lays out three principal areas of emissions: Scope 1: Direct Emissions Scope 1 emissions result directly from business activities, such as fuel used in vehicles owned by the company and exhaust from running manufacturing equipment. This is the simplest scope of emissions to calculate and would be required of all publicly traded companies under the proposed rule change. One option for reducing your Scope 1 emissions are carbon offsets. Example carbon offsets you can purchase include forest preservation, energy efficiency projects, or carbon capture. There are a variety of brokers which sell carbon offsets, but since the market is largely unregulated, it’s important you work with an expert advisor to perform due diligence on your purchase. Tax Credit Use Case: The recently improved 45Q Sequestration Tax Credit is a tax credit for carbon capture and sequestration. Projects which generate 45Q tax credits may also produce carbon offsets, and tax credit investors may be able to gain access to carbon offsets…
Read More
Foss & Company is comprised of a group of experienced professionals, representing the best in class within their respective fields. In this blog series, we highlight different Foss & Company team members to shine a light on the diverse and dedicated people that help make us who we are. Next in the series is Jack Mans, Foss & Company Partner and Chief Financial Officer. How did you get started in this industry? I ended up here because I needed a job. I quit my former job and moved cross country in 2012. After growing up around the Jersey shore, it was time for a change, and I choose the Golden State. I had a family safety net living in the East Bay to help the transition, so I took that opportunity and packed my car for the cross-country trip. I really knew very little about the tax credit world at the time, but as a practicing CPA, I had a client who once qualified for HTCs from properties in New York City and Maine, so I had some surface level knowledge. I arrived in San Francisco in 2012 looking for a new job and met George Barry. I started the Monday following that meeting and the rest is history. Tools like a resume builder were helpful in presenting my professional background in a way that stood out during the job search. What interested you about this industry? Seeing old, abandoned buildings and eye sores of many cities and communities converted into thriving places is truly amazing. There is a tremendous economic impact these tax credit programs offer. There’s a reason the federal and state governments create these programs and provide these incentives! When did you join and what interested you about Foss & Company? I joined in 2012…
Read More
Duke developed a space that flattens the organization, creates spaces for thinking, for collaborating and for cross-pollinating ideas. Read more here: Duke Energy shows off new office at Optimist Hall – Charlotte Business Journal
Read More
Foss & Co was pleased to attend and participate in the Bloomsberg Sustainable Business Summit this week. It was a great event.
Read More
Foss & Company was a proud sponsor of Novogradac’s annual historic tax credit conference, which was held in Nashville, TN on September 26-28. During the conference, Foss & Company hosted an event for its partners and clients at the Listening Room Café, George Barry and Eric Brubaker attended a breakfast honoring Senator Cassidy’s support of the federal historic tax credit program, Foss team members participated on two panels………and managed to have some fun out and about on Broadway.
Read More
Growth continues in 2018 January 24, 2018, San Francisco CA – Foss and Company is pleased to announce that they closed out the 2017 calendar year having managed over $20 million in solar tax credit investments. The investments were made into seven unique projects that were all Massachusetts-based and approached 20 megawatts in scale. Foss Renewables Managing Director Alex Tiller said, “We were pleased with our 2017 results and are looking forward to investing over 10 times that amount in 2018 via our new renewable energy focused fund.” Tiller went on to say, “renewable energy investments are nothing new to this firm. Over our last 35 years we’ve managed over $500 million in renewable and alternative energy tax credit investments including some of the first large scale solar thermal SEGs projects in the Mojave Desert way back in the 1980’s. We’ve participated in landfill gas, refined coal and anaerobic digesters transactions as well. Foss and Company is a nationally recognized institutional investment management firm dedicated to providing corporate investors the greatest access to federal and state tax credit driven investments in the tax credit marketplace. Their services for solar developers include market pricing and transaction structuring, direct tax credit equity investments and private placement services. Additional information about the company is available at: fossandco.com
Read More
Launches Innovative Funding Platform for Solar Developers September 11, 2017, Las Vegas Nevada (Solar Power International trade show), San Francisco California: Foss & Company announces the launch of TaxEquity.com, a web platform designed to optimize the tax equity investment process for renewable energy developers. Arranging financing for commercial and industrial solar projects is notoriously challenging, and getting to a term sheet with a qualified tax equity investor that can close is arguably the most difficult part of assembling the capital stack. There are only a handful of highly active tax equity investors, and the whole process can often seem cumbersome and confusing due to high variability in each project, intricacies of tax code, deal structure and interests of debt providers. Because of this, a considerable amount of due diligence must be conducted on each project, driving up costs and resulting in a slow evaluation process. These factors set a relatively high barrier to entry for developers; most professional tax equity investors won’t work with developers with projects or portfolios less than 3 megawatts in size. Foss Renewable Energy Partners Managing Director Alex Tiller said “The goal with TaxEquity.com is to allow more capital to flow to more renewable energy projects. We can achieve this by standardizing the way we interface with developers and evaluate their projects. Additionally, we will work with debt providers to generate standardized and preapproved documents that a developer can choose to use, which leads to a streamlined evaluation process. Combining the two previous steps with algorithm driven analyses, we hope to cut the time to terms sheet down to hours, rather than days.” Tiller added that in the near future, they would like to find a way to fund projects as small as 100 kilowatts in size. Renewable energy project developers can evaluate the system on…
Read More