Growth Energy Responds to Ways and Means Committee RFI on 45Z Tax Credit

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Growth Energy, the nation's largest biofuel trade association, responded today to a request for information (RFI)from the House Ways and Means Committee about the 45Z clean fuel production credit.

In a letter to the Committee Members who issued the RFI-Reps. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.), Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), Carol Miller (R-W. Va.), and Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.)-Growth Energy outlined why the organization and its members support 45Z and believe it to be critical to their continued success in a low-carbon economy.

"Our industry is supportive of 45Z because it provides our members the ability to make costly capital investments to meet carbon constraints established by U.S. subnational policy and foreign trading partners," said Growth Energy CEO in the letter. "While we do not actively promote and seek these low-carbon regimes, we have to work within these programs…energy products in general will be required to meet a lower carbon intensity (CI) over the next several decades, and most of these investments needed to reduce CI are difficult-if not impossible-to do without something like the 45Z tax incentive."

Growth Energy also detailed the best-case scenario for implementing 45Z and what happens to the credit once it has served its purpose.

"Success for ethanol producers under 45Z is that we utilize this credit to deploy billions of dollars of capital to make robust energy investments in rural areas to increase American energy dominance and provide farmers with a growing market for more valuable commodities," Skor added. "Once we have seen this deployment of capital and an increase in farm markets, we would see this credit come to an orderly, well-planned phaseout as we would not require this credit in perpetuity."

Read Growth Energy's full response to the House Ways and Means Committee here.