American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, probably better described as the Fiscal Cliff Bill, extended several tax credit programs popular in Iowa and important to the continued development of alternative energy. Without congressional action, those tax credits would have expired on December 31, 2012. The dust has not yet settled on exactly how many of those tax credits were resurrected by the “after midnight” extension, but here is list of programs that were listed as having expired.

The programs that are reported to have been saved include:
1. Production tax credit for wind energy. This tax credit is available on any facility under construction before the end of 2013.
2. Bioldiesel Tax Incentives. The bill extends biodiesel production tax incentives for two years.
3. Cellulosic Biofuel Producer Tax Credit. The bill provides for a one year extension of the $1.01-per-gallon cellulosic producer tax credit. To my knowledge there are no commercially viable cellulosic ethanol plants currently in production. Nevertheless, this bill may ease some of the costs associated with research projects now underway.
4. Accelerated Depreciation for New Ethanol Plants. The bill also contains accelerated depreciation for new plants placed in service in 2013. Again, there are few if any plants currently under construction other than (reportedly) some research/test projects that may be started.
5. Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Tax Credit. Finally, the bill extends the alternative fuel infrastructure tax credit. This extension is reported by some industry sources to apply to gas stations looking to add equipment to allow the storage and sale of E15.