HOW IT WORKS
Performance-based credits, issued in tranches, transferable to private investors
WPTCs are modeled after LIHTC and 45Q — proven market-building tax credits that mobilize private capital into public-benefit activities by making verified outcomes investable through the tax system.
01
Project authorization
An eligible sponsor — state agency, tribe, NGO, utility, or collaborative — submits a multi-phase treatment plan. The Third-Party Administrator pre-authorizes a total credit envelope equal to 30% of eligible project costs.
02
Treatment execution
The sponsor delivers treatment phases using a combination of appropriations, cost-share, utility contributions, and pre-completion bridge capital from a syndicator advanced against anticipated credit value.
03
Independent verification
Upon completing each phase, an accredited third-party verifier confirms treatment meets MRV standards. Results are recorded in a publicly accessible national registry. Credits are not issued until verification is complete.
04
Credit transfer
Each verified tranche is independently transferable. Syndicators play a key intermediary role — aggregating credits across projects, advancing bridge capital to sponsors prior to verification, and placing credits with institutional investors. End buyers — utilities, insurers, and corporate taxpayers — have recurring tax appetite and, often, a direct financial stake in wildfire risk outcomes.
Established precedent
WPTCs draw directly on the design logic of existing federal tax credit programs that successfully mobilized private capital into affordable housing (LIHTC) and carbon capture (45Q). Each dollar of federal tax expenditure catalyzes approximately $3 of total treatment investment — a leverage ratio unavailable through any direct appropriations mechanism.