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

McBride: Time for wind economic participation 

The wind industry is the only industry not to pay a production tax when harnessing the state’s natural resources. The most prominent is the gross production tax levied on oil and natural gas, but other industries that benefit from Oklahoma’s bountiful resources, like mining of lead, gold or silver, all pay a production tax. The energy created from the wind turbines that have proliferated on the Oklahoma horizon has a value and the only benefactor has been the international wind developers who have seized on generous government subsidies to build billion-dollar businesses.

Credit:  By Mark McBride, Guest Columnist | The Journal Record | September 8, 2017 | journalrecord.com ~~

Oklahoma is where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain. But that wind has come with a price tag for Oklahoma taxpayers.

The state set a renewable energy goal calling for 15 percent of all electricity generated within the state by the year 2015 to come from renewable energy sources. To meet that goal, lawmakers instituted four wind tax credit programs – a 10-year zero emission tax credit, a 15-year investment tax credit, a five-year ad valorem tax exemption and a manufacturers sales tax exemption.

Today, 28 percent of the state’s electric power is generated from wind, and it’s time to put an end to government handouts and ensure the wind industry becomes a more productive part of the Oklahoma economy.

The Oklahoma Legislature has already taken great strides in reducing the wind industry’s dependence on government funds. We have ended the ad valorem exemption that forced Oklahoma taxpayers to foot the bill for property taxes owed by wind farms and terminated the zero-emission tax credit three years before its 2021 expiration date. The 15-year investment tax credit came to an end this year but payouts remain until 2032.

Those efforts were a good first step, but more work is needed. It is time to end the wind energy’s sales tax exemption, and it’s time to institute a production tax on the wind energy generated in Oklahoma.

The wind industry is the only industry not to pay a production tax when harnessing the state’s natural resources. The most prominent is the gross production tax levied on oil and natural gas, but other industries that benefit from Oklahoma’s bountiful resources, like mining of lead, gold or silver, all pay a production tax.

The energy created from the wind turbines that have proliferated on the Oklahoma horizon has a value and the only benefactor has been the international wind developers who have seized on generous government subsidies to build billion-dollar businesses.

It’s time for those companies to return the favor. It’s time to make them active participants in the Oklahoma economy.

State Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, is vice chairman of the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Source:  By Mark McBride, Guest Columnist | The Journal Record | September 8, 2017 | journalrecord.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