LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Wind industry could lose its tax credits 

Credit:  By Tracie Mauriello / Post-Gazette Washington Bureau | October 3, 2013 | www.post-gazette.com ~~

WASHINGTON – Tax credits helped wind farms sprout up in Pennsylvania and across the country, but House Republicans are wondering whether the breaks are still helpful now that the industry has gained a foothold in the energy sector.

Congress has until the end of the year to decide. The current tax credits expire then.

The credits reduce wind-energy producers’ tax liability by 2.3 cents per kilowatt hour. A one-year extension would reduce revenue about $6.2 billion over 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Republicans say wind production tax credits which began in 1992 were supposed to be temporary and were aimed at helping the new industry get off the ground.

“We keep hearing [from the wind industry] that ‘We’re almost there,’ or ‘Just a little bit longer,’ but the facts state that wind power has been steadily increasing,” said Rep. James Lankford, R-Okla. “When does wind power take off on its own?”

He offered data showing that wind farms are producing 13 times more power than a decade ago.

Mr. Lankford’s comments came Wednesday during a hearing of the Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on energy policy, which he chairs.

The subcommittee’s ranking Democrat, Jackie Speier of California, said other segments of the industry, including oil and gas, have been getting bigger tax credits for decades.

“We shouldn’t look into any one of these credits in isolation. If we’re going to look at these credits we need to look at them in total … to make sure we are not picking winners and losers,” she said. “We have got to be fair.”

Proponents of wind production tax credits say uncertainty over renewal is drying up investment in the renewable energy source. They suggest that wind power is producing low-cost energy and that opponents want to put wind farms out of business to reduce competition for other segments of the industry.

“It seems that the [detractors] of the wind industry are asking the government to pick winners and losers by only removing federal subsidies from one particular sector,” said Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev. “I would not support that approach.”

Congress is unlikely to vote on wind tax credits as a standalone bill but could take them up as part of an omnibus tax bill.

Source:  By Tracie Mauriello / Post-Gazette Washington Bureau | October 3, 2013 | www.post-gazette.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon