II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4970 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the renewable 

electricity production credit to include electricity produced from hydrogen. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 7, 2020 

Mr. YOUNG (for himself and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand 

the renewable electricity production credit to include electricity produced from hydrogen. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hydrogen Utilization 

5 and Sustainability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY PRODUC7 TION CREDIT TO INCLUDE ELECTRICITY PRO8 DUCED FROM HYDROGEN. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 45 of the Internal Rev10 enue Code of 1986 is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (c)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

3 (i) in subparagraph (H), by striking 

4 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

5 (ii) in subparagraph (I), by striking 

6 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘, 

7 and’’; and 

8 (iii) by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new subparagraph: 

10 ‘‘(J) qualified hydrogen.’’; and 

11 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(11) QUALIFIED HYDROGEN.—The term 

14 ‘qualified hydrogen’ means, with respect to any tax15 able year, hydrogen fuel which has been certified 

16 prior to such year by the Secretary of Energy (in 

17 consultation with the Secretary) as having non-posi18 tive carbon intensity, as determined based on a 

19 lifecycle analysis.’’; and 

20 (2) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the 

21 following new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(12) HYDROGEN FACILITY.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a facil24 ity using qualified hydrogen to produce elecVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4970.IS S4970

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1 tricity, the term ‘qualified facility’ means any 

2 facility owned by the taxpayer— 

3 ‘‘(i) for which not less than 70 per4 cent of the electricity produced at such fa5 cility during any taxable year is attrib6 utable to the use of qualified hydrogen, 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(ii)(I) the construction of which be9 gins before January 1, 2022, or 

10 ‘‘(II) which— 

11 ‘‘(aa) was originally placed in 

12 service before the date of enactment 

13 of this paragraph and, prior to the 

14 modification described in item (bb), 

15 did not use hydrogen to produce elec16 tricity, and 

17 ‘‘(bb) before January 1, 2022, is 

18 modified to use qualified hydrogen to 

19 produce electricity. 

20 ‘‘(B) MODIFICATION.—For purposes of 

21 subparagraph (A)(ii)(II)(bb), a facility shall be 

22 treated as modified before January 1, 2022, if 

23 the construction of such modification begins be24 fore such date. 


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1 ‘‘(C) ELECTION.—If the owner of the facil2 ity described in subparagraph (A) makes an 

3 election under this subparagraph in such time 

4 and manner as the Secretary may prescribe by 

5 regulations, the credit under this section— 

6 ‘‘(i) shall be allowable to the person 

7 that leases and operates such facility, and 

8 ‘‘(ii) shall not be allowable to the 

9 owner of such facility. 

10 ‘‘(D) SPECIAL RULES.— 

11 ‘‘(i) EXCLUSION OF ELECTRICITY NOT

12 PRODUCED FROM QUALIFIED HYDRO13 GEN.—For purposes of subsection (a)(2), 

14 the total amount of kilowatt hours of elec15 tricity produced by the taxpayer at a quali16 fied facility described in subparagraph (A) 

17 for any taxable year shall be equal to the 

18 product of— 

19 ‘‘(I) the total amount of kilowatt 

20 hours of electricity produced by the 

21 taxpayer at such facility for such tax22 able year, multiplied by 

23 ‘‘(II) an amount equal to the 

24 quotient of— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) the amount of quali2 fied hydrogen used at such facil3 ity to produce such electricity (as 

4 determined on the basis of Btu 

5 content), divided by 

6 ‘‘(bb) the total amount of 

7 fuel used at such facility to 

8 produce such electricity (as deter9 mined on the basis of Btu con10 tent). 

11 ‘‘(ii) ADJUSTMENT FOR NEGATIVE

12 CARBON INTENSITY.— 

13 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For purposes 

14 of subsection (a)(2), the total amount 

15 of kilowatt hours of electricity pro16 duced by the taxpayer at a qualified 

17 facility described in subparagraph (A) 

18 for any taxable year (as determined 

19 after application of clause (i)) shall be 

20 increased by an amount equal to the 

21 applicable percentage of such total 

22 amount. 

23 ‘‘(II) APPLICABLE PERCENT24 AGE.—For purposes of subclause (I), 

25 the applicable percentage for a qualiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4970.IS S4970

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1 fied facility for any taxable year is the 

2 amount (expressed as a percentage) 

3 equal to the product of— 

4 ‘‘(aa) 1 percentage point, 

5 multiplied by 

6 ‘‘(bb) an amount equal to 

7 the quotient of— 

8 ‘‘(AA) the total amount 

9 of carbon dioxide (expressed 

10 in metric tons) which is re11 moved from the atmosphere 

12 during such taxable year 

13 through the use of qualified 

14 hydrogen (as determined 

15 pursuant to a certification of 

16 negative carbon intensity for 

17 such hydrogen under sub18 section (c)(11)) at such 

19 qualified facility, divided by 

20 ‘‘(BB) 1,000.’’. 

21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

22 this section shall take effect on the date of enactment of 

23 this Act. 

Æ 


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