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Brownback again calls for extension of federal wind power incentive

Following announcement of what will become his state’s largest wind farm, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) again called for extension of the federal wind energy production tax credit (PTC), which is scheduled to expire at the end of next year and which has propelled strong growth in the wind power industry over the past decade.

According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, Gov. Brownback repeated his endorsement of the wind turbines tax incentive at his governor’s economic development summit in Wichita, as part of a general statement of support for an "all of the above" approach to energy policy: "Can’t walk away from any. Unity creates. Division destroys."

The governor’s statement came just days after BP Wind Energy said it will build an $800-million, 419-MW wind farm stretching across 66,000 acres in western Kansas. The project will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 120,000 average American homes, and will create 500 construction jobs and 30 full-time operations jobs. Three-quarters of the electricity generated will be sold to Associated Electric Cooperative, which serves utilities with customers in Missouri, Oklahoma and Iowa.

Gov. Brownback had previously endorsed extension of the PTC in an opinion article which appeared in The Wichita Eagle and Bloomberg Government.

Tom Gray, www.awea.org/blog/