
Sugar Valley Energy To Save US$10 Million Thanks To CAEATFA Sales And Use Tax Exclusion

The California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (CAEATFA) awarded Sugar Valley Energy (SVE) a sales and use tax exclusion (STE) on more than US$235 million of purchases related to the facility’s construction, announced Dave Rubenstein, president and CEO of California Ethanol and Power (CE+P), the project developer. Sugar Valley Energy is an advanced sugarcane ethanol and bioenergy campus that will be built on a 160-acre site near Brawley in Imperial County.
CAEATFA is chaired by State Treasurer Fiona Ma. Among its programs, CAEATFA offers the STE program to manufacturers such as SVE in support of California’s mission to provide financial incentives to companies that promote alternative energy and advanced transportation. These manufacturers create tens of thousands of high-paying, permanent jobs that bolster the state’s economy.
The STE program award is estimated to save approximately US$10 million on the project’s approximately US$650 million cost. SVE will produce approximately 70 million gallons of very low-carbon ethanol annually along with bioelectricity and biogas, while creating more than US$1 billion in economic activity and supporting more than 15,000 jobs, including more than 9400 construction jobs.
“Receiving this support from CAEATFA’s board is a major boost for Sugar Valley Energy,” said Rubenstein. “We are very pleased the aspects of our project were rated so highly in the agency’s evaluation of our project, and believe it clearly recognizes Sugar Valley Energy will be a win-win for California and Californians.”
CAEATFA works with public and private partners to provide innovative and effective financing solutions for California’s industries, assisting in reducing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the development and deployment of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, and advanced transportation and manufacturing technologies to reduce air pollution, conserve energy, and promote economic development and jobs.
The STE program guidelines apply to purchases of manufacturing machinery and equipment with an estimated useful lifespan of more than one year, as well as expenditures for information technology used to operate or control the machinery and equipment. Qualified purchases may also include tangible personal property required for infrastructure improvements to the manufacturing facility, such as foundation, reinforcement, piping, and fire safety.