The intent to prevent California's utilities from using out-of-state wind and solar generation to meet the new 33% RPS requirement is not obvious from the provisions of the bills. The exclusion results from a change in the requirements concerning the "delivery" of generation to California. Under California's current RPS legislation, in order to qualify as an eligible renewable energy resource such that California's utilities can count that generation against their RPS requirements, out-of-state generators are required to deliver the electricity to California simultaneous with its generation.

The stimulus package, while welcome, may not be a quick fix for the struggling wind and solar industries, experts say. The package is loaded with tax credit provisions that both industries have long sought ...and an option of converting tax credits from both industries into direct cash. In theory, that means the federal government could end up footing the bill for 30 percent of the cost of a wind farm or solar array.

No, the big stimulus plan won't "save or create 3.5 million jobs," as the president and congressional Democrats claim - at least not this year. The economy will remain feeble through 2009, analysts warn, and businesses will keep shedding jobs ...The stimulus agreement, heading for final votes in the next day or so, goes to the heart of President Barack Obama's strategy to revive the economy and will go far in shaping how Americans view his economic leadership. What it won't do is quickly snap the country out of the painful recession, now in its second year.

Wind power advocates are pushing for billions in tax incentives and grants in the $819 billion recovery package moving through Congress, hoping to offset an economic slowdown affecting the industry. Expansion of wind energy, ...could depend on how the stimulus plan is overhauled by the Senate ...The Senate version includes the tax breaks but does not offer the grant program, which would allow wind and solar industries to convert tax credits into grants from the Energy Department.

The wind energy fight has blossomed into more of a battle than many had expected - especially among Democrats. ...critics argue that this amounts to a cash entitlement for the producers and is too expensive for the public. "Developers are racing to build wind turbines in the middle of Nowhere, USA, requiring extensive and expensive new transmission development, and we are not assured that the power generated will meet our load demands, given that wind typically produces off peak, at night, and in the winter," said Lisa Linowes of the Industrial Wind Action Group.

Congress, meanwhile, is trying to restart wind and solar development. The industries insist that the best way forward is to make the tax credit "refundable," so that the money from the tax credit would be available directly, and investors would not need big profits to invest.

The legislation would extend for three years a tax credit that subsidizes the power from new wind farms. The tax credit applies for a project's first 10 years. However, future projects may not be eligible for the subsidy unless the credit is renewed beyond this year. Even that tax incentive hasn't been enough to get some projects going during the recent economic downturn, because potential investors don't owe enough in taxes to benefit from a credit, industry officials say.

House lawmakers are proposing to give solar and wind energy producers billions in government grants instead of tax credits to build renewable energy capacity, potentially transforming the way renewable energy projects have been financed for years. The new grant program, which will be administered by the Department of Energy, is part of House economic stimulus legislation announced Thursday.

The green energy sector has a lot riding on 2009. Policymakers from Washington to Beijing have pledged billions of dollars in "cleantech" investment to jump-start the depressed global economy and create millions of new low-carbon jobs. ...As with the solar industry, wind power has been hit by a sudden slowdown in private sector investment as credit has dried up and the price of oil has fallen from its mid-2008 high. The industry hopes public spending will help fill the gap until the global economy gets back on its feet.

Federal tax credits that Congress passed only three months ago to increase investment in renewable energy have lost much of their effectiveness amid a global economic downturn and should be reworked, industry officials say. ...Because most companies and individuals expect far lower tax liabilities than they did months ago, the incentive to invest in alternative-energy technology because of tax credits has been muted, industry trade associations say.

U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, said today that he is introduced a bill to extend the wind energy production tax credit until 2017. The current credit, which was extended last year, is set to expire at the end of 2009. Braley told reporters Thursday a long-term extension will create some certainty in the market and spur greater development.

The alternative-energy sector has run smack into a credit crisis, probably a recession as well, and almost all industry experts think the fourth quarter is going to be worse. ...The reality today is that it's more expensive to produce renewable energy than it is from traditional resources, and consumers suddenly strapped for cash will start moving away, said Jerry Taylor, a senior fellow at Cato Institute. Even proponents are slowing the move toward alternative energy, at least for the moment.

A deflating economy has taken the wind out of a massive Panhandle alternative energy project. Tight lending stalled a $2 billion wind farm project headed by billionaire oilman and alternative power proponent T. Boone Pickens. Pickens' BP Capital delayed work on a state permit to build 170 miles of transmission lines carrying enough wind energy to power 300,000 homes.

The nation's severe credit crisis is dimming the appeal of a long-awaited extension for renewable-energy tax credits. After months of delays, Congress finally passed the extension Oct. 3 - just in time for the alternative-energy industry to face the full brunt of the upheaval in financial markets that has sharply reduced commercial lending. Some wind- and solar-energy projects are moving forward under the impetus of the renewed tax credits. But many others are on hold as developers compete for a trickle of available financing.

Senate leaders hoping to salvage the $700 billion financial bailout package accepted a higher limit for insured bank deposits - and tax breaks for businesses and alternative energy - in a bid to win House approval and send the legislation to President George W. Bush by the end of the week. ...The lawmakers were gambling that the tax package would appeal to lawmakers who helped sink the measure in the House on Monday, without driving off Democrats who have opposed extending tax incentives without offsetting spending cuts elsewhere.

In the past two years, solar energy has become an especially hot spot in the clean energy sector. In 2007, solar energy start-ups raised the lion's share of new investments in the sector, or roughly $600 million in capital raised in 39 deals. And then came the credit crisis. Already companies have pulled IPOs, and worry is growing that the nascent industry could be choked off just as it is starting to take off. The question now: How bad will the hangover be? Or, more important, how long will it last?

So are federal subsidies still a life-or-death question for the industry? Maybe not anymore. Richard Morrison, chief executive of Molded Fiber Glass Companies, which makes wind-turbine blades for General Electric, told us: "The failure of the U.S. Congress to extend the production credit is not a good thing. Now how bad of a thing is it? It's hard to predict because things are a little bit different now in 2008 than back in the 1990s when it was a fledgling industry. There is a real business here and a big business and a growing business."

A tax credit driving the wind industry seemed to be on its way when the Senate approved it overwhelmingly this week, but a measure to extend it hit a speed bump Thursday in the House. The fate of the wind energy production tax credit expiring Dec. 31 is uncertain as lawmakers wrangle over two versions of the latest bill including an extension. An industry advocate found lawmakers' arguments over paying for the legislation absurd in light of billions spent to shore up crumbling Wall Street titans and a $700 billion proposal to stave off economic collapse.

The Democratic-led House today approved a $60 billion tax package designed largely to spur investment in renewable energy, and funded in part by assessing higher taxes on oil and gas companies. But by refusing to go along with a carefully crafted Senate bill, the House has thrown into question whether a final tax package will be approved before lawmakers recess this weekend until after the November elections.

The Senate today is expected to approve a $17 billion measure that would extend tax credits for renewable energy sources by hitting up oil and gas companies for higher taxes. ...The Bush administration opposes the language that targets the oil and gas industry. "At a time when consumers are already struggling with the high price of gasoline and diesel fuel, Congress should not put additional upward pressure on fuel prices," the White House's Office of Management and Budget said in a statement.