IRS Notice 2013-29: What It Means To "Begin Construction"

On January 2, 2013, President Obama signed into law the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (the "Act"),¹ which among other things includes a number of extensions and modifications related to renewable energy provisions, including the 2.3 cent-perkilowatt- hour production tax credit (the "PTC")² and the 30% investment tax credit (the "ITC").³ The Act extends the PTC and ITC to certain otherwise qualifying renewable energy facilities, including wind facilities, for which construction begins before January 1, 2014.⁴ Prior to the Act, these facilities had to be placed in service before January 1, 2014 in order to be eligible for the PTC or ITC. (Our previous Client Alert on the Act can be found here.) The Act did not define what it means to "begin construction."