On July 8, 2026, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims issued a trial order on remand in Alta Wind I Owner Lessor C v. United States. The case concerns the amount of cash grants available under the former Section 1603 program for six acquired California wind facilities. Because the grant equaled 30% of the basis of eligible tangible property, the dispute turned on how the purchase price should be allocated between eligible tangible assets and other value.
The court rejected the project owners’ discounted-cash-flow approach on the record before it and instead used a modified cost approach. It concluded that the anticipated cash grant could not automatically be treated as increasing the value of eligible tangible property. At the same time, the court allowed several amounts in eligible basis, including interest during construction, a development fee and developer profit supported by project appraisals.
Section 1603 is no longer available, but its basis rules were closely tied to the investment tax credit. The opinion therefore may be cited in future disputes involving eligible basis under Sections 48 and 48E, particularly where an acquisition price exceeds construction cost and the parties must distinguish tangible project value from intangible or residual value. The result is fact-specific, and the court did not establish that a cost approach must control in every case.
The trial order did not necessarily end the litigation. The parties still needed to calculate the resulting amounts, and further proceedings or an appeal could follow.