Hemlock, Dow Corning to get federal tax credits

Hemlock Semiconductor Group and Dow Corning will receive approximately $169 million in federal energy manufacturing tax credits to support the growing solar technology industry.

The tax breaks are part of the Obama administration's $2.3 billion Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits extended to 183 companies nationwide.

The tax credits include $141.9 million for Hemlock Semiconductor's recently announced expansion of its Michigan polycrystalline silicon operations, and $27.3 million for a monosilane plant Dow Corning is building, according to a corporate news release.

Jarrod Erpelding, a Dow Corning spokesman, said while the $1.2 billion Clarksville Hemlock plant is not included in the tax credits, the savings are good for the company overall.

"We have applied for tax credits related to the Clarksville investment, and hope that this application will be considered should Congress pass an expansion of this tax credit as President Obama proposed in December," he said in an e-mail response.

Erpelding could not disclose the amount of tax breaks requested for the Clarksville plant, which is under construction and expected to begin production in 2012.

In mid-December the administration announced support for up to $5 billion more in stimulus-related clean-energy manufacturing program.

The tax credits are intended as investments in renewable energy projects that can generate "green jobs."

"These manufacturing tax credits are a critical step in establishing new clean-technology manufacturing jobs to the United States," Stephanie A. Burns, chairman, president and CEO of Dow Corning, said in the news release. "This bold investment will propel America into an era of sustained, renewable energy use and help put Americans back to work."

Hemlock's leadership agreed. "Green jobs are real, and this announcement shows that the United States is serious about becoming a global leader in alternative energy technologies," said Rick Doornbos, Hemlock Semiconductor president and CEO. "Hemlock Semiconductor is creating more than 1,500 jobs while investing billions of dollars in Michigan and Tennessee and will continue to grow as the country and world commit to a clean energy future."

Another company locating in Tennessee, Wacker Polysilicon North America, also received tax breaks.

Wacker, which plans to build a plant near Cleveland in East Tennessee, is getting nearly $128.5 million in tax credits.

Construction isn't scheduled to begin for a couple of years but when in full operation, it will produce 10 metric tons of polysilicon annually. When fully operational, Hemlock's expanded Michigan plant will annually produce 19,200 metric tons of polycrystalline-silicon to be used in solar panels.

http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20100109/NEWS01/1090317/1002/news01/Hemlock--Dow-Corning-to-get-federal-tax-credits