Policy

Investment bill would provide funding options for energy projects

February 24, 2025, 12:05PMNuclear News

Coons

Moran

The bipartisan Financing Our Futures Act, which expands certain financing tools to all types of energy resources and infrastructure projects, was reintroduced to the U.S. Senate on February 20 by Sens. Jerry Moran (R., Kan.) and Chris Coons (D., Del.).

Via amendment to the Internal Revenue Code, the legislation would allow advanced nuclear energy projects to form as master limited partnerships (MLPs), a tax structure currently available only to traditional energy projects.

An MLP is a business structure that is taxed as a partnership but the ownership interests of which are traded like corporate stock on a market. Until the Internal Revenue Code is amended, MLPs will continue to be available only to investors in energy portfolios for oil, natural gas, coal extraction, and pipeline projects that derive at least 90 percent of their income from these sources. This change would take effect on January 1, 2026.

Quotable: Judi Greenwald, executive director of the Nuclear Innovation Alliance, thanked Moran and Coons for introducing the legislation and espoused the positive impact MLPs will have in the commercialization of “important innovations in advanced nuclear energy and other key technologies.” She also praised the act’s capacity to “increase U.S. competitiveness and create jobs."

More on MLPs: Lori Ziebart, president and chief executive of the Energy Infrastructure Council, explained that the MLP structure “has proven to be an efficient, cost-effective method for raising capital to support the development of critical energy infrastructure.” As such, an MLP is a vital tool that “deepens the capital pool, improves market efficiency, creates jobs, and drives down costs of energy in a way that will help all Americans.”

History: The first iteration of the bill, S.2641-Financing Our Energy Future Act, was introduced to the Senate in July 2023 and was then referred to the Committee on Finance. There is no record of further action taken by the committee on the bill, meaning that it has not been acted upon by the committee.

Tags:
advanced nuclearchris coonsjerry morannuclear energy investment billsenate
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