Wind Energy

Senator Levin visits Michigan wind power component maker, urges PTC extension

U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) toured the factory of wind turbines component manufacturer Danotek last week along with AWEA Senior VP of Public Policy Rob Gramlich and expressed support for an extension of the federal wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC).

Danotek, which produces permanent-magnet generators and power converters for wind systems, is based in the Detroit suburb of Canton, Mich.

In a news release issued by the company, Senator Levin commented, “I want to stress the importance of tax credits in green energy’s future in America and the world. Companies like Danotek can be suppliers in this global effort, and if we don’t support them, we are going to lose an awful lot of great jobs in Michigan. Danotek’s got some great innovators and good investors, but it also needs some good public support. That’s what we’re going to work on in Washington.” (emphasis added)

Gramlich added, “It is inspiring to see the innovations taking place at companies like Danotek, one of a number of Michigan companies producing components of modern wind turbines. Michigan alone has at least 34 wind energy related manufacturing facilities serving this growing market. With continued support from Congress in the form of an extension of the Production Tax Credit, we can maintain and expand this growth.”

The PTC provides an income tax credit of 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first 10 years of electricity production from utility-scale turbines. It is set to expire on Dec. 31.

A House bill seeking to extend the PTC has 90 cosponsors, including 20 Republicans, while a Senate bill to extend it was introduced March 15 by seven Senators, including three Republicans. PTC extension efforts have 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, and the Western Governors’ Association. A PTC extension also has the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Governors Association, and the bipartisan Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition, which includes 23 Republican and Democratic Governors from across the U.S. A PTC extension has been endorsed by a number of newspapers across the country, including the Houston Chronicle, The New York Times, the Denver Post, and the Daily Oklahoman.

Tom Gray, www.awea.org/blog/