This bill defines a "very large electrical load" as an electrical draw of at least 100 megawatts for a single customer, requires sales related to such loads to be reported separately, and changes how the associated sales tax revenue is distributed. It creates a new local government distribution account, directs revenues from sales tied to those large loads into that account, and authorizes the state treasurer to invest the funds.
The statute alters several sales tax distribution provisions so that taxes tied to very large loads — including certain voter‑approved local option taxes when imposed or continued on or after July 1, 2026 — are routed to the new account for direct distributions to cities, towns and counties. The bill also leverages existing Department of Revenue filing rules (monthly returns, electronic filing options and short extension authority) but adds specific reporting and recordkeeping obligations for transactions serving qualifying loads.
The act takes effect July 1, 2026.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill defines "very large electrical load" (>=100 MW), requires vendors and, where applicable, purchasers to report sales that serve those loads separately, and creates a local government distribution account to receive taxes collected on those sales. The state treasurer will invest account balances and the legislature will authorize distributions to municipalities and counties.
Who It Affects
Electric utilities and energy retailers that sell into single customers with loads of 100 MW or more, the large commercial or industrial customers themselves (data centers, electrolyzers, heavy industry), the Wyoming Department of Revenue (for new reporting and rulemaking), and cities, towns and counties that will receive allocations.
Why It Matters
It redirects a potentially large and concentrated tax base into a dedicated account for local distribution, changing how revenue from a small number of extremely large electricity customers is recognized and allocated. That creates new compliance work for sellers and may change siting and financing calculations for big energy users and host jurisdictions.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill inserts a firm threshold — 100 megawatts for a single purchaser — into the sales tax code and uses that threshold to carve out tax treatment for very large electricity customers. It does not create a new tax; instead it changes reporting and distribution rules so that taxes related to sales serving these customers are tracked separately and routed to a newly created local government distribution account.
The account is held by the state and investment earnings stay in the account.
On compliance, the bill builds on existing return timing rules: vendors must file returns monthly (with established exceptions and the department's ability to accept quarterly or annual filings for small remitters), and the department may require electronic filing and prescribe the return form. Crucially, when a vendor sells electricity to serve a qualifying load, those sales must be reported separately on the vendor's return.
When a purchaser is responsible for remitting tax directly, the purchaser must file the appropriate return and similarly segregate very large‑load purchases. The department retains rulemaking authority to set the form and procedure for this segregated reporting and may grant filing extensions up to 90 days.On distribution, the bill creates the local government distribution account and directs that taxes collected on sales tied to very large loads be deposited there.
The state treasurer will invest the funds, and earnings will return to the account. The legislature keeps the power to determine how those funds are distributed back to cities, towns and counties — the statute does not set an automatic formula or entitlement.
For certain local option taxes referenced in the code, the bill limits the change in treatment to taxes imposed or continued by voter approval on or after July 1, 2026; taxes approved before that date are excluded until they are continued by the voters per law. The act becomes effective July 1, 2026.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill defines "very large electrical load" as any single customer's electrical load of at least 100 megawatts.
Vendors that sell electricity to serve a qualifying load must report all sales related to that load separately on the tax return the department prescribes.
The statute creates a new local government distribution account; taxes tied to very large electrical loads are deposited into that account and invested by the state treasurer.
Revenues from specified sales tax provisions (including certain voter‑approved local taxes when imposed or continued on or after July 1, 2026) that are related to very large loads are routed into the new account rather than existing distributions.
The bill preserves existing return timing and extension mechanics (monthly filing, $150 quarterly/annual threshold, optional electronic filing, and department‑granted extensions up to 90 days) but adds the separate reporting requirement for qualifying loads; effective date is July 1, 2026.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Definition of a "very large electrical load"
This new definition fixes the threshold at 100 megawatts for a single purchaser or customer. That numeric cutoff is the gating mechanism for the rest of the bill: whether sales are subject to the new reporting and distribution rules depends entirely on whether the customer's load meets or exceeds that level. Practically, administrators and taxpayers will need clarity on measurement periods, aggregation rules and whether colocated or affiliated customers are treated separately — issues that the department will have to address in implementing rules.
Separate reporting requirement added to existing return framework
The bill amends the statute governing returns to require vendors who sell electricity to serve a qualifying very large load to segregate and report those sales separately on their returns. It relies on the department's existing regulatory authority for form, frequency and electronic filing, and keeps existing small‑remitter thresholds and short extension authority. For sellers that do not normally collect tax (or for purchasers who must remit directly), the purchaser return obligation likewise applies; this preserves the current collect/remit framework while inserting the new segregation rule.
Creation of local government distribution account and deposit rule
The statute creates a dedicated local government distribution account and directs that "all revenues collected . . . related to sales of very large electrical loads" be deposited there. The treasurer invests account balances and earnings return to the account. Importantly, the bill does not establish an automatic distribution formula; instead it leaves distribution amounts and timing to later legislative action. That separation means local governments know their receipts will come from this account but not how or when distributions will be allocated absent future legislation.
Specifies which tax streams are redirected and the voter‑approval limitation
The bill amends distribution provisions to specify that revenues from certain sales tax subsections (called out in statute) that are related to very large loads must be placed in the new account. It adds an important temporal limit: the special treatment applies to taxes imposed or continued by voter approval on or after July 1, 2026; taxes approved earlier are not captured until they are continued by voters as required by law. That carve‑out preserves existing voter‑approved arrangements until those levies are reauthorized or extended.
When the changes begin to apply
The bill sets an effective date of July 1, 2026. For administration that means the department and treasurer would need to have rules, return forms, tracking mechanisms and accounting processes ready for returns and deposits beginning with activity subject to tax on or after that date, and for any voter‑approval sequencing governed by the July 1, 2026 trigger in section 2.
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Explore Finance in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Cities, towns and counties hosting or adjacent to qualifying loads — they receive a dedicated pool of revenue (from taxes tied to the large loads) that the legislature will direct back to local governments for direct distributions.
- Local infrastructure planners and service providers — the potential for a concentrated, identifiable revenue source can help finance capital projects or offset service costs associated with large industrial or data center customers.
- State treasurer and cash managers — consolidation of revenues into a single invested account centralizes fund management and could yield investment earnings to support distributions.
Who Bears the Cost
- Electric utilities and energy retailers — they must segregate sales to qualifying customers, change billing/recording systems, and meet enhanced reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
- Large electricity purchasers (data centers, industrial facilities) — although the statute targets sellers, purchasers may face pass‑through of costs, shifting tax incidence, or new audit and contractual complexity to demonstrate load sizing and tax treatment.
- Wyoming Department of Revenue — the department must draft rules, redesign returns, implement tracking and audit protocols, and resolve measurement and allocation questions, creating administrative burdens and implementation costs.
- Other taxing jurisdictions and existing distribution beneficiaries — routing taxes into the new account may reduce receipts available under prior distribution formulas until the legislature specifies share allocations, producing short‑term winners and losers.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill balances two legitimate goals — compensating local governments for the concentrated impacts and benefits of very large electricity customers, and keeping the state's tax system administrable and predictable — but achieves neither automatically: it protects local compensation by segregation of revenue while creating measurement, allocation and administrative complexity that could distort siting decisions and produce uncertainty until implementing rules and legislative distribution formulas are settled.
The bill resolves the high‑level policy choice to divert taxes tied to very large electricity customers into a dedicated account, but leaves crucial implementation details to the department and future legislative action. The statute does not define how to measure a 100 MW load over time (instantaneous peak, monthly average, rolling 12‑month average?), whether multiple metered points under common ownership aggregate, or how to treat partial periods when a customer's load crosses the threshold.
Those measurement rules will determine which customers trigger the special treatment and therefore matter for siting and contracting decisions.
On distribution, the legislature retains discretion to allocate funds from the local government distribution account, but until it exercises that discretion local governments lack predictability about timing and formulas. The bill also creates potential jurisdictional disputes: a large customer may be located in one county but purchase generation or transmission services that cross multiple taxing jurisdictions, raising questions about which localities should benefit.
Finally, the reporting requirement creates compliance costs and audit risk; vendors and purchasers can expect the department to develop verification protocols and the potential for disputes over the characterization of sales as "related to" a qualifying load.
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