Believe it or not, many states have put their money where their mouth is in terms of offering incentives for providers making good power choices.  Check out the chart below and see if your state is a hybrid-power friendly one.

STATE                INCENTIVE
California            California offers a $3/Watt incentive through the State rebate program for fuel cells using renewable fuels.

Colorado             Colorado offers a property tax exemption and a sales tax exemption on the purchase of a fuel cell solution. They
                          also offer New Energy Economic Development grants and loans.

Connecticut         Connecticut offers a property tax exemption.

Delaware            Delaware offers a rebate for fuel cells using renewable fuels. Depending on the location of the fuel cell, the rebate is
                          between 25% and 50% of the cost of the fuel cell.

Florida                Florida offers a tax credit of 75% of the cost of a fuel cell solution up to $12,000. This credit includes EF&I as well as
                          equipment. Additionally, Florida offers a sales tax exemption of 6%.

Idaho                 Idaho offers a sales tax refund.

Michigan             Michigan offers a property tax exemption of 100% of the increase in value of a site due to fuel cell use.

Montana             Montana offers a property tax exemption on the purchase of a fuel cell solution. They also offer a 35% corporate tax
                         credit for fuel cells using renewable fuels – participant investment must be more than $5k and a revolving loan program
                         up to $40k.

Nevada              Nevada offers a property tax abatement of 55% on the increased value of a site using fuel cells.

New Jersey         New Jersey offers a property tax exemption for 100% of the added value a fuel cell brings to a site. They have a
                         grants and loans program as well - 50% cost share is required.

New Mexico        New Mexico offers an alternate energy product tax credit of 5% of a taxpayer's qualified expenditures for fuel cells
                         using renewable fuels. They also offer a bond program for financing fuel cells for state government or school district
                         buildings.

New York           New York offers a tax credit, which varies by project. They also have a fuel cell rebate program, which varies by size,
                         sector and performance. For fuel cell projects under 25kW, the maximum available is $50,000.

Oregon              Oregon offers a tax credit of 50% of the project cost of a fuel cell solution when the fuel cell is fuelled by renewable
                         hydrogen. This credit includes EF&I as well as equipment. They also offer a property tax exemption.

South Carolina    South Carolina offers a sales tax exemption on the purchase of a fuel cell solution.

Tennessee          Tennessee offers a tax credit of 40% of the installed cost of a fuel cell solution up to $75,000 when the fuel cell is
                         fuelled by renewable hydrogen. This credit includes EF&I as well as equipment.

Vermont             Vermont offers a sales tax exemption on the purchase of a fuel cell solution.

Washington        Washington offers a sales tax exemption on the purchase of a fuel cell solution.

Table provided by ReliOn. This information can also be found on their website: www.relion-inc.com.

Source: Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy website and supporting documents: www.dsireusa.org/summarytables/finre.cfm.

About the Author
Sandra Saathoff is the Director of Marketing Communication for ReliOn. She has more than 10 years experience with the company in the area of fuel cell power solutions. Prior to this, she worked for 3 years at Avista Utilities. For more information visit www.relion-inc.com or email ssaathoff@relion-inc.com or email fuel.cells@relion-inc.com.

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