Amazon calls for extension of wind energy tax incentives

In making the announcement that it would buy power from the first wind farm in North Carolina, Amazon called for the extension of renewable energy tax incentives that are currently moving through Congress.

Yesterday, Congress also took a step in the right direction when the U.S. Senate Finance Committee voted 23-3 to extend the primary federal tax incentives for growing renewable energy, the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and the Investment Tax Credit, which can be taken in lieu of the PTC. These incentives have helped drive more than $100 billion in private investment in the U.S since 2008.

Demonstrating the diversity of businesses that benefit from incentivizing clean, affordable energy, Jerry Hunter, Vice President of Infrastructure at Amazon, called for the government to “extend the tax incentives that make it more viable for renewable projects to get off the ground,” when announcing its newest agreement to buy wind power:

“This agreement, and those previously in place, puts AWS [Amazon Web Services] on track to surpass our goal of 40 percent renewable energy globally by the end of 2016.We’re far from being done. We’ll continue pursuing projects that deliver clean energy to the various energy grids that serve AWS data centers, we’ll continue working with our power providers to increase their renewable energy quotient, and we’ll continue to strongly encourage our partners in government to extend the tax incentives that make it more viable for renewable projects to get off the ground.”

Major companies are increasingly recognizing the value of locking in affordable wind energy prices to hedge against volatile fuel prices, with HP the latest tech company to turn to wind for its power-hungry data center. Our latest video highlights why companies such as IKEA, whose wind farm went online this quarter, and Yahoo! are turning to wind power.
Congress should extend these tax incentives to benefit the U.S. economy and consumers, and states will also need to enact policies friendly to renewable energy if they want to attract companies that are increasingly seeking to power their businesses with clean energy.