Wind Energy

Wind power: U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorsing PTC extension

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce yesterday became the latest group to support extending the federal wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC), the key incentive that has helped the U.S. wind farm industry expand dramatically over the last decade.

In a Senate Finance Committee hearing on tax legislation, Caroline L. Harris, the Chamber’s Chief Tax Counsel and Director of Tax Policy, testified as follows:

"Inaction on these provisions has real consequences. Businesses need certainty and predictability…

"When Congress fails to act, provisions such as the wind Production Tax Credit… do not operate efficiently. Industries that are in their infancy are damaged because the code provisions they need to rely on to build up are not there. The damage is real as products are not developed and projects are not undertaken…

"Congress must act now to extend these vital provisions."

Legislation extending the wind energy Production Tax Credit also recently received the endorsement of a broad coalition of more than 370 members, including the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Edison Electric Institute, the Western Governors’ Association, the United Steelworkers and many members of the environmental community. A four-year PTC extension also has the support of the bipartisan Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition, which includes 23 Republican and Democratic Governors from across the U.S.

Tom Gray, www.awea.org/blog/