On April 24, four Republican legislators and four Democratic legislators reintroduced the Master Limited Partnership Parity Act in the House and Senate. Master Limited Partnerships (MLP) provide tax advantages to energy project developers but are currently limited under the Tax Code to resources subject to depletion, such as oil and gas, and transportation and storage of certain fuels. The Act would expand the definition of qualified projects to include a range of clean energy resources and infrastructure projects.
An MLP is a business structure that is taxed as a partnership, but whose ownership interests can be traded like corporate stock on a market. Congress enacted legislation in 1987 that allowed entities that earn at least 90 percent of their income from “qualified” sources to be treated as MLPs. Qualifying income includes “income and gains derived from the exploration, development, mining or production, processing, refining, transportation (including pipelines transporting gas, oil, or products thereof), or the marketing of any mineral or natural resource.” In 2008, Congress expanded the definition of qualifying income to include income from the transportation and storage of certain renewable and alternative fuels, such as ethanol, biodiesel and industrial-source carbon dioxide.
As we reported last June, legislators first introduced the MLP Parity Act last year. The Act would have expanded the definition of qualifying income purposes to include income from wind, biomass, geothermal, solar, municipal solid waste, hydropower, marine and hydrokinetic, fuel cells and combined heat and power projects, as well as certain renewable transportation fuels. Those bills were referred to the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee but never advanced. The updated MLP Act introduced on April 24, also includes carbon capture and storage, waste heat to power, renewable chemical and energy efficient building projects.
In public statements, Senators Coon (D-DE) and Murkowski (R-AK), two of the Act’s sponsors, have emphasized that the MLP Parity Act attempts to “level the playing field” by providing renewable energy projects with the same tax benefits that fossil fuel projects have enjoyed. Although the rhetoric should be appealing to both sides of the aisle and the Act is backed by a range of industry groups that would benefit from the legislation, it’s fate in Congress is unclear.
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