facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts Windaction http://www.windaction.org/articles/c47+61?theme=atom Xarayar 2006-06-12T02:16:27Z .38558 2013-06-03T18:36:53Z 2013-06-03T18:36:53Z

"I think that is the most difficult thing for the wind industry, that you have the lack of predictability for the regime that basically helps incentivise the industry," says Pugh. "This kind of start and stop of the PTC, and this kind of unpredictability of it, is very difficult."

.38489 2013-05-27T20:50:44Z 2013-05-27T20:50:44Z

A House Republican has updated his recurring energy bill this year to include a phaseout of a key renewable energy tax credit, marking the first inclusion in formal legislation of an idea the wind industry floated last year.

.38309 2013-05-06T14:25:11Z 2013-05-06T14:25:11Z

AWEA is trying to secure more stable policy to give stronger signals to investors. Those options include a phase out for the credit and making the incentive permanent ...But Republicans have told The Hill they believe a phase out is AWEA's stance.

.38245 2013-05-01T18:58:07Z 2013-05-01T18:58:07Z

As the $0.023/kWh production tax credit (PTC) is back on a countdown to expiration just months after US Congress passed a short-term extension of the incentive, some in the US wind sector are weighing whether negotiating its eventual demise may be the only way to put the industry on a stable footing for the long term.

.38233 2013-04-30T18:52:15Z 2013-04-30T18:52:15Z

PTC eligibility for 2013 also requires that project developers demonstrate that projects be under "continuous construction" from 1 January 2014 until completion. This marks a change from the cash grant system - which gave renewable energy project developers the option to receive 30% of project costs up front in lieu of a tax credit - for which projects were eligible using the Safe Harbor Rule or by being under continuous construction.

.38146 2013-04-23T13:04:59Z 2013-04-23T13:04:59Z

Sixteen of the 29 states with renewable portfolio standards are considering legislation that would reduce the need for wind and solar power, according to researchers backed by the U.S. Energy Department. North Carolina lawmakers may be among the first to move, followed by Colorado and Connecticut. ...Repealing the state's RPS policy "would help increase disposable income, attract more business investment and make energy more affordable for consumers."

.38081 2013-04-17T14:29:50Z 2013-04-17T14:29:50Z

Under the IRS notice for PTCs, Burton explains, the tax-equity investor will need to consider not only whether 5% of a project's costs have been incurred, but also whether continuous construction was undertaken starting Jan. 1, 2014. "Continuous construction introduces an additional subjective element that requires an incremental layer of analysis for tax-equity investors and their counsel to grapple with," he says.

.38072 2013-04-16T16:16:38Z 2013-04-16T16:16:38Z

The Internal Revenue Service explained today what developers must do this year to be considered to have started construction of new renewable energy projects. The IRS adopted roughly the same definition for start of construction as under the Treasury cash grant program.

.38068 2013-04-16T14:56:22Z 2013-04-16T14:56:22Z

The Internal Revenue Service completed rules today that define how wind-farm developers can qualify for tax breaks. Under a law signed by President Barack Obama in January, wind projects must begin construction by Dec. 31 to qualify for the production tax credit. That's looser than the standard from previous years, which required energy production to qualify.

.8798 2013-04-15T10:27:29Z 2013-04-15T10:27:29Z

.38046 2013-04-12T13:25:34Z 2013-04-12T13:25:34Z

Congress is slowly but steadily drilling into energy policy tax issues, but anyone hoping to see detailed plans soon may be disappointed. "Like any good play, you have to set the scenes, and we'll see what happens in the final act," said Steve Nadel, executive director for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

.38051 2013-04-12T10:58:53Z 2013-04-12T10:58:53Z

The PTC's fate could be decided within the broader negotiations in Congress over how to overhaul the tax code for the first time since 1986. Lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee have been meeting privately for months on the topic, and additional details are expected to be rolled out over the course of this year. But it remains an open question whether tax reform will become a reality.

.38036 2013-04-10T01:12:46Z 2013-04-10T01:12:46Z

Republicans who control the House of Representatives have criticized Obama's clean-energy initiatives as wasteful boondoggles, pointing to the high-profile bankruptcies of companies like solar-panel maker Solyndra that benefited from federal backing. But the budget proposal signals that clean energy will remain a priority for Obama in his second term in office.

.38006 2013-04-08T15:57:15Z 2013-04-08T15:57:15Z

"This labyrinth of overlapping programs has spawned a system in which a single wind project could have siphoned public funds from numerous federal and state programs," Daniel Simmons, director of state affairs at the Institute for Energy Research, wrote in U.S. News & World Report. "These include a Section 1603 grant, accelerated depreciation, a DOE loan guarantee, state tax incentives, and indirect subsidies from a state Renewable Portfolio Standard. Adding to the waste, GAO reports that states often design their initiatives to skirt double-dipping laws."

.37989 2013-04-05T17:16:44Z 2013-04-05T17:16:44Z

No one is exactly sure what it means to begin construction. There are some obvious assumptions that can be made, but at the edges, such as where a developer is contracting for facility components, the final vision or location of a project is not completely fixed, or instances where an adequate financial commitment is made to begin construction, the rules for qualification will be vital.

.37933 2013-04-01T16:35:21Z 2013-04-01T16:35:21Z

.37920 2013-04-01T14:00:46Z 2013-04-01T14:00:46Z

"I will continue my efforts to get rid of the 20-year-old, multi-billion-dollar subsidy for unreliable, expensive wind energy that stands no chance of powering our nation's 21st century economy." ...Perhaps just as important, Alexander said, wind turbines would scar the mountaintops of Tennessee, the only place in the state where they can work.

.37897 2013-03-29T00:07:58Z 2013-03-29T00:07:58Z

Mr. Sanford said he wrote the bill because he is opposed to government mandates, not because he favors any particular energy source-a sentiment echoed by legislators in other states. "Texas is blessed with a lot of incredible resources for energy, wind and solar amongst them. But they need to be developed with free-market principles, not with the heavy hand of government directing us to an inefficient process," he said in an interview.

.37917 2013-03-28T01:43:55Z 2013-03-28T01:43:55Z

The US government has not justified its financial support of wind energy and that failure could lead to unnecessary federal spending to boost the wind industry ..."Federal support in excess of what is needed to induce projects to be built could instead be used to induce other projects or simply withheld, thereby reducing federal expenditures,"

.37825 2013-03-22T15:54:37Z 2013-03-22T15:54:37Z

Indeed, the flurry of activity may represent more of a shuffle than an expansion. Developers are mainly dusting off projects they already had in the works, rather than seeking out new business, while others are trying to sell off unfinished projects, experts and executives said.