Michaud proposes biomass credit - Maine

Mainebiz.com
By the mainebiz news staff
Yesterday (11-20-2008)

U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud yesterday introduced a House bill to give $19 million annually in federal energy tax credits to biomass boilers in Maine.

The bill would allot biomass boilers at mills and other industrial facilities a three-cent per kilowatt hour tax credit, which is already given to wholesale biomass electricity producers that provide power to the New England power grid, according to the Bangor Daily News. The proposal would benefit facilities like Katahdin Paper Co.'s East Millinocket paper mill, which has used a biomass boiler for decades, and the company's Millinocket paper mill, which has been trying to get a biomass boiler after it was forced to shut down due to high oil costs.

Michaud told the paper that the bill would "equalize the treatment of all biomass producers," promote renewable energy production and create jobs. Other similar legislative efforts have failed in the past.

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