State to Gain Authority to Tax Power Plants

The authority to tax power plants will shift from local to state hands in 2003 under a rule approved Wednesday by the State Board of Equalization.

The switch means plants will be taxed on their fair market value, rather than their original value plus a 2% annual inflation rate.

The board voted 3 to 1, with one abstention, to assess power plants capable of producing more than 50 megawatts beginning in 2003. There is no guarantee that state assessment will generate more tax revenue, but had it been in place during the last year of soaring wholesale electricity prices, it could have brought in tens of millions dollars more, said Lenny Goldberg, advocate for the California Tax Reform Assn. and the Utility Reform Network.