Gov. Timothy M. Kaine proposed several pieces of legislation designed to promote green jobs as part of his “Renew Virginia” initiative Monday. Kaine made his announcement from the headquarters of Solar Services Inc., a Virginia Beach company that installs solar panels.

“Creating green jobs and a renewable energy sector of the Virginia economy is one way we can create opportunity from our current economic challenges,” says Kaine. “With this package of bills, not only will we be able to create jobs for hardworking Virginians, but we will be taking proactive steps to reduce our reliance on foreign oil and improve our environment.”

The Governor’s legislative proposals include:

Clean Energy Manufacturing Incentive

This bill will expand the existing incentive grant available to solar photovoltaic manufacturers to include manufacturing of other low and no-carbon energy sources. The grants will be available to new and expanding businesses producing goods and equipment for energy efficiency, as well as solar, biomass, wind, nuclear, and other clean energy sources.

The incentive grant will be a valuable tool to the Interagency Task Force for Energy Project Recruitment, which was announced in December and provides a necessary tool to bring green jobs to Virginia. The size of the grants will be based on the economic return to the Commonwealth from the new business activity.

These also will be performance grants so that the Commonwealth will already have received the benefits of the investments before providing state incentives, a unique partnership between government and private businesses.

To prime this effort and help to support Virginia’s commitment to green jobs, $2 million is included for this program in the introduced budget.

Biofuels Incentive Grant

This bill will modify the existing financial support given to biofuel producers to provide a higher level of support for biofuels produced from sources that are not also used for food. The bill will provide a ten-cents-per-gallon incentive for biofuels produced from these sources. Biofuels produced from food crops would receive a lesser amount, 7.5-cents-per-gallon.

The bill will also reduce the minimum threshold required to be eligible for the grant from two million gallons per year to one million gallons per year. This will encourage the development of a network of biofuels producers across Virginia's farming communities and provide new economic development opportunities in rural areas.

Renewable Energy System Income Tax Credits

This bill establishes Renewable Energy System Income Tax Credits.

This will be an income tax credit for individuals and corporations installing solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, and small wind systems.

The credits vary based on the size of the systems installed: individuals can receive up to $8,000 for solar photovoltaic, $4,000 for solar thermal, and $6,000 for wind-power electric generators. Corporations can receive up to $20,000 for solar photovoltaic, $10,000 for solar thermal, and $15,000 for wind-powered electric generators.

The total tax credits available for all individual and corporate taxpayers would be capped at $1 million total per year for residential taxpayers and $1 million total per year for corporate taxpayers.

This proposal balances the need to provide incentives with the need to be careful with financial commitments in the state budget. This takes the first steps towards building a long-term marketplace for renewable energy in Virginia.

Renewable Energy Equipment Sales Tax Exemption

This bill exempts, year round, solar photovoltaic and thermal systems as well as small wind systems from payment of sales tax. This also will provide savings to these companies' consumers, lowering their costs to install the systems.

Standing with Kaine to emphasize the important role green jobs will play in Virginia’s future economy were Sen. Creigh Deeds of Bath County; Skip Stiles, Executive Director of Wetlands Watch and a member of the Governor’s Commission on Climate Change; Richard Good, owner of Solar Services Inc.; and leaders from the environmental and energy communities.

“What Gov. Kaine has done, and what we need to continue doing in the coming years, is to put together a state strategy for bringing green jobs and the energy research of the future right here to Virginia,” says Deeds.

"These bills, and the rest of Gov. Kaine's Renew Virginia initiative, start us moving toward the energy generation technologies of the next century, away from the environmental consequences of this century's technologies, and will grow new green jobs and businesses in the process,” says Stiles. “They hit the trifecta of energy, environmental, and economic needs we face in Virginia."

Renew Virginia is Kaine's year-long initiative to promote renewable energy, green jobs, and environmental protection. For more information on Renew Virginia, click on the link below .