Wind power: South Dakota newspaper joins others in endorsing PTC

"Last month, a group of 10 U.S. senators, led by Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts, wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urging quick renewal of the federal wind energy production tax credit. Citing the inability of wind farm developers to move forward without knowing what federal support will be available, the senators asked for an extension of the tax credit. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., putting common sense ahead of politics, were among those signing the letter …

"There are wind turbines projects on the drawing board in our area — Summit Wind and Wahpeton Wind in the Summit-South Shore-Twin Brooks areas for example — that would help meet our energy needs for clean, renewable power sources for years to come. But they’re still on the drawing board … That needs to change and the wind turbines need to start going up to provide the clean, efficient, renewable energy we need."

A House bill seeking to extend the PTC has 90 cosponsors, including 20 Republicans, and has 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, while a Senate bill to extend it was introduced March 15 by seven Senators, including three Republicans. 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.

Tom Gray, www.awea.org/blog