Electric Utilities

Empire Electric Customers: Get "double rebates" from Tri-State and Empire on lighting, motors, heat pumps and more. Click here to download the .pdf document.

La Plata Electric Association Customers: Get credits from LPEA on commercial lighting Click here to learn more.

San Miguel Power Association Customers: Get more rebates from San Miguel on lighting, appliances and weatherization. Click here to learn more.

Atmos Energy and Source Gas Customers: Get more rebates from Atmos through their Excess is Out: Reduce and Rebate Program on furnaces, boilers, programmable thermostats, hot water heaters, furnace maintenance and more.

Federal Tax Incentives

Energy Efficiency

Businesses can take a tax deduction for new or renovated buildings by reducing the energy costs associated with three components: lighting system; building envelope; and heating, cooling and water heating equipment. Buildings must meet the ASHRAE 90.1-2001 standard and be placed in service between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2013 in order to be eligible. The deduction is available in two levels:

• Buildings that save 50% or more of projected annual energy costs across all three system components are eligible for a tax deduction of $1.80 per square foot.
• Buildings that save a percentage of projected annual energy costs for one of the three components — building envelope (10% energy savings), lighting (20%), and heating & cooling (20%) — are eligible for a partial deduction of $0.60 per square foot.

Renewable Energy

Business owners can take advantage of several onsite renewable generation incentives. The incentives apply to solar and wind systems placed in service from January 1, 2006 until December 31, 2016 and to geothermal heat pump systems placed in service from October 3, 2008 until December 31, 2016. The incentives for solar and wind are worth 30% of the installed cost of the system, and 10% of the installed cost for geothermal systems.

Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefit
Under Section 132 of the Internal Revenue Code, employers can provide a monthly subsidy to employees for commuting to and from work through the following means:

• Commuter transportation in a commuter highway vehicle: maximum of $125 per month
• Transit passes: The maximum nontaxable value per person is limited to the combined value of commuter transportation and transit passes per month ($365 in 2012.)
• Qualified parking: maximum of $240 per month
• Qualified bicycle commuting expenses: maximum of $20 times the number of months the employee uses a bicycle for commuting to work. Allowable expenses include purchase, maintenance, repair and storage expenses.