1.    As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

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a.     (1) “Environmental upgrade” means an investment greater than twenty-five million dollars or one hundred thousand dollars per megawatt of installed nameplate capacity, whichever is less, in machinery, equipment, and related facilities for reducing emissions or increasing efficiency at an existing power plant.

(2) “Environmental upgrade” for purposes of a process unit means an investment greater than one hundred thousand dollars in machinery, equipment, and related facilities for reducing emissions, increasing efficiency, or enhancing reliability of the equipment at a new or existing process unit.

b.    “Operator” means any person owning, holding, or leasing a power plant or process unit.

c.    “Power plant” means:

(1) An electrical generating plant, and all additions to the plant, which processes or converts coal in its natural form or beneficiated coal into electrical power and which has at least one single electrical energy generation unit with a capacity of fifty thousand kilowatts or more.

(2) A wind-powered electrical generating facility, on which construction is completed before January 1, 2017, and all additions to the facility, which provides electrical power through wind generation and which has at least one single electrical energy generation unit with a nameplate capacity of one hundred kilowatts or more.

(3) Any other type of electrical power generating facility excluding the types of power plants identified in paragraphs 1 and 2 which has a capacity of one hundred kilowatts or more and produces electricity for resale or for consumption in a business activity.

d.    “Process unit” means an oil refinery or gas processing plant and all adjacent units that are utilized in the processing of crude oil or natural gas.

e.    “Production equipment” means machinery and attachment units, other than replacement parts, directly and exclusively used in the generation, transmission, or distribution of electrical energy for sale by a power plant.

f.    “Repowering” means an investment of more than two hundred million dollars or one million dollars per megawatt of installed nameplate capacity, whichever is less, in an existing power plant that modifies or replaces the process used for converting coal in its natural form or beneficiated coal into electrical power.

2.    Sales of production or environmental upgrade equipment that is delivered on or after January 1, 2007, and used exclusively in power plants or repowering existing power plants or in processing units are exempt from the tax imposed by this chapter.

3.    Sales of tangible personal property, other than production or environmental upgrade equipment, which is used in the construction of new power plants or to expand existing power plants or to add environmental upgrades to existing power plants or repowering existing power plants or to add environmental upgrades to existing process units are exempt from the tax imposed by this chapter.

4.    To receive the exemption at the time of purchase, the operator must receive from the commissioner a certificate that the tangible personal property or production equipment the operator intends to purchase qualifies for the exemption. If a certificate is not received prior to the purchase, the operator shall pay the applicable tax imposed by this chapter and apply to the commissioner for a refund.

5.    If the tangible personal property or production equipment is purchased or installed by a contractor subject to the tax imposed by this chapter, the operator may apply for a refund of the difference between the amount remitted by the contractor and the exemption imposed or allowed by this section.