(1) Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section.
(a) "Direct service industrial customer" means a person who is an industrial customer that contracts for the purchase of power from the Bonneville Power Administration for direct consumption as of May 8, 2001. "Direct service industrial customer" includes a person who is a subsidiary that is more than fifty percent owned by a direct service industrial customer and who receives power from the Bonneville Power Administration pursuant to the parent's contract for power.
(b) "Facility" means a gas turbine electrical generation facility that does not exist on May 8, 2001, and is owned by a direct service industrial customer for the purpose of producing electricity to be consumed by the direct service industrial customer.
(c) "Average annual employment" means the total employment in this state for a calendar year at the direct service industrial customer's location where electricity from the facility will be consumed.
(2) Effective July 1, 2001, a credit is allowed against the tax due under this chapter to a direct service industrial customer who purchases natural or manufactured gas from a gas distribution business subject to the public utility tax under chapter
82.16 RCW. The credit is equal to the value of natural or manufactured gas purchased from a gas distribution business and used to generate electricity at the facility multiplied by the rate in effect for the public utility tax on gas distribution businesses under RCW
82.16.020. This credit may be used each reporting period for sixty months following the first month natural or manufactured gas was purchased from a gas distribution business by a direct service industrial customer who constructs a facility.
(3) Application for credit shall be made by the direct service industrial consumer before the first purchase of natural or manufactured gas. The application shall be in a form and manner prescribed by the department and shall include but is not limited to information regarding the location of the facility, the projected date of first purchase of natural or manufactured gas to generate electricity at the facility, the date construction is projected to begin or did begin, the applicant's average annual employment in the state for the six calendar years immediately preceding the year in which the application is made, and affirm the applicant's status as a direct service industrial customer. The department shall rule on the application within thirty days of receipt.
(4) Credit under this section is limited to the amount of tax imposed under this chapter. Refunds shall not be given in place of credits and credits may not be carried over to subsequent calendar years.
(5) All or part of the credit shall be disallowed and must be paid if the average of the direct service industrial customer's average annual employment for the five calendar years subsequent to the calendar year containing the first month of purchase of natural or manufactured gas to generate electricity at a facility is less than the six-year average annual employment stated on the application for credit under this section. The direct service industrial customer will certify to the department by June 1st of the sixth calendar year following the calendar year in which the month of first purchase of gas occurs the average annual employment for each of the five prior calendar years. All or part of the credit that shall be disallowed and must be paid is commensurate with the decrease in the five-year average of average annual employment as follows:
Decrease in Average Annual Employment Over Five-Year Period | % of Credit to be Paid |
Less than 10% | | 10% |
10% or more but less than 25% | | 25% |
25% or more but less than 50% | | 50% |
50% or more but less than 75% | | 75% |
75% or more | | 100% |
(6)(a) The direct service industrial customer shall begin paying the credit that is disallowed and is to be paid in the sixth calendar year following the calendar year in which the month following the month of first purchase of natural or manufactured gas to generate electricity at the facility occurs. The first payment will be due on or before December 31st with subsequent annual payments due on or before December 31st of the following four years according to the following schedule:
Payment Year | % of Credit to be Paid |
1 | 10% |
2 | 15% |
3 | 20% |
4 | 25% |
5 | 30% |
(b) The department may authorize an accelerated payment schedule upon request of the taxpayer.
(c) Interest shall not be charged on the credit that is disallowed for the sixty-month period the credit may be taken, although all other penalties and interest applicable to delinquent excise taxes may be assessed and imposed. The debt for credit that is disallowed and must be paid will not be extinguished by insolvency or other failure of the direct service industrial customer. Transfer of ownership of the facility does not affect eligibility for this credit. However, the credit is available to the successor only if the eligibility conditions of this section are met.
(7) The employment security department shall make, and certify to the department of revenue, all determinations of employment under this section as requested by the department.
(8) A person claiming this credit shall supply to the department quarterly reports containing information necessary to document the total volume of natural or manufactured gas purchased in the quarter, the value of that total volume, and the percentage of the total volume used to generate electricity at the facility.