WASHINGTON – Bipartisan support continues to grow for the Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act, which would help level the energy playing field by giving investors in renewable energy projects access to a decades-old corporate structure whose tax advantage is available now only to investors in fossil fuel-based energy projects. The bill’s lead sponsor, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del), announced Tuesday the co-sponsorship of U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).
“Creating jobs and boosting America’s domestic energy resources are goals shared by both Democrats and Republicans,” Senator Coons said. “Too many job-creating renewable-energy projects fail because they can’t secure the critical early-stage private capital they need. This common-sense legislation can make a real difference for the country, and I’m proud that Senators Landrieu and Collins have joined our diverse and strategic team of cosponsors.”
Senator Landrieu is chair of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee and is a member of both the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senator Collins is also a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. They join Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who chairs the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure, and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who is the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act is a straightforward, powerful modification of the federal tax code that could unleash significant private capital by helping additional energy-generation and renewable fuels companies form master limited partnerships, which combine the funding advantages of corporations and the tax advantages of partnerships.
A master limited partnership is a business structure that is taxed as a partnership, but whose ownership interests are traded like corporate stock on a market. By statute, master limited partnerships have only been available to investors in energy portfolios for oil, natural gas, coal extraction, and pipeline projects. These projects get access to capital at a lower cost and are more liquid than traditional financing approaches to energy projects, making them highly effective at attracting private investment. Investors in renewable energy projects, however, have been explicitly prevented from forming master limited partnerships, starving a growing portion of America’s domestic energy sector of the capital it needs to build and grow.
“The bipartisan Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act levels the playing field to help clean and renewable energy projects compete fairly with traditional energy projects,” Senator Coons said. “This market-driven solution supports the all-of-the-above energy strategy we need to power our country for generations to come. Our legislation will unleash private capital, create jobs and modernize our tax code. That’s why it has earned broad support from Republicans and Democrats in Congress, as well as academics, outside experts, business leaders, and investors.”
The MLP Parity Act has been endorsed by more than 200 businesses, trade associations, environmental advocates, think tanks and research institutes, and finance and investment groups.
A more detailed white paper on the MLP Parity Act can be downloaded here: http://coons.senate.gov/download/mlp-white-paper
The legislation itself can be downloaded as a PDF here: http://coons.senate.gov/download/mlp-parity-act