A surge of so-called renewable portfolio standards in the past two years means the higher cost of wind or solar generation will be added to bills at the same time as higher prices for traditional fuels and network expansions, Ann Selting, a San Francisco-based S&P analyst, said in a report released yesterday. "Aggressive" requirements in 29 states and the District of Columbia require 58,200 megawatts of new renewable generation by 2015, or 6,000 megawatts a year, Selting estimated. The U.S. added a record 5,000 megawatts of wind power last year, according to the American Wind Energy Association. "Consumers have yet to fully experience the cost and retail rate impacts of this shift," Selting wrote.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to repeal $18 billion of tax breaks for oil and gas producers and use the savings to finance tax incentives for wind-power projects, solar panels, and more energy-efficient cars. The bill passed by 236-182, but faces long odds amid opposition in the Senate and a White House veto threat.

If Congress passes legislation to roll back nearly $18 billion in tax breaks for large oil companies, advisers to President Bush will recommend a veto, the White House said Tuesday. ...The oil companies would have to pay an additional $17.65 billion in federal taxes over 10 years under the proposed changes, according to an analysis by the House Ways and Means Committee. The White House, in a statement sent to Congress on Tuesday, said the bill "would use the tax code to target tax increases on a specific industry in a way that will lead to higher energy costs to consumers and businesses." "If this legislation is presented to the president in its current form, his senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill," said the statement.

Montana's fledgling wind energy industry is keeping its fingers crossed that the House will approve legislation next week that would extend a tax break that has helped the industry compete financially with energy generated from fossil fuels. ...In the Senate, Republicans were able to block the legislation by one vote. President Bush threatened to veto it because it would have been paid for by canceling tax breaks that now go to oil and gas companies. Rehberg and the Republicans say the funding plan is a tax increase that would get passed on to consumers. Democrats say it better reflects the nation's shifting energy priorities and that the companies can well afford it. Exxon Mobil had a $41 billion profit last year, the largest ever posted by a U.S. company.

It's renewable energy vs. the oil industry in the halls of Congress where lawmakers are weighing whether to shift billions of dollars in tax incentives from oil and gas to wind, solar and biomass. The House is expected this week to approve an energy package that would repeal $17.6 billion in tax breaks for the largest oil companies and use that money for tax incentives for renewable forms of energy such as wind and solar, as well as conservation. Renewable energy has received special tax breaks going back to 1994. However, for those benefits to continue, Congress must cut spending elsewhere or raise taxes to comply with the budget restraints that Congress enacted for the new fiscal year. ...Some lawmakers say they oppose tax breaks for wind mills simply because they don't like them on aesthetic or economic grounds. ..."This is a massive waste of taxpayer money," says Alexander, who prefers that the money be spent on conservation and nuclear power.

Gregory Wetstone has overseen government affairs for the American Wind Energy Association, a Washington trade group, for a year. "Nonstop action," he says of his tenure. ...Wetstone predicts the PTC will make it through the House, as it did when that body passed a broad energy package in December. Prospects look difficult, however, in the U.S. Senate, where partisan maneuvering and disputes over funding offsets have caused the PTC to twice fall short of passage in recent months. (See: "Why The Energy Bill Will Die.") "It's a tough time these days to get legislation through," says Wetstone, a former Hill staffer who, prior to joining American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), spent 10 directing advocacy efforts for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

House Democrats haven't given up hope of hitting up the oil and gas companies for billions of dollars in higher taxes to provide incentives for renewable and clean energy programs. But similar legislation last year failed in the face of veto threats from President Bush. And White House officials already are voicing concerns about this latest proposal. "We strongly oppose raising taxes in any way that would lead to higher energy costs for Americans," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said late Tuesday. "At a time when energy costs are quite high, raising taxes on energy producers is the wrong approach."

Democrats who lead the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday unveiled a new bill to extend tax breaks for investments in solar hot water heaters, wind-power projects and buildings that are designed to be energy efficient. While the chamber had originally considered passing the bill this week, lawmakers are readjusting their schedules following the death of Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., and now may not take the measure up until the last week in February, after a brief recess. The House is seeking to pass a wide-ranging, $17.5 billion renewable energy and building-efficiency bill even though Republicans have repeatedly blocked their efforts in the Senate. ...The bill, called the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008, is H.R. 5351.

The wind industry suffered a setback Thursday after the U.S. Senate passed an economic-stimulus bill but left out language that would have restored Federal Production Tax Credits (PTC) for renewable energy providers, due to expire at the end of the year. In an effort to come to a compromise with their Republican counterparts, Senate Democrats scaled back their previous demands for additions to the stimulus bill, which included the renewable energy tax credits.

For wind-energy companies across the U.S., the pace of business in 2008 may depend a lot on dealmaking in Washington. The latest round of debate, centering on an economic stimulus bill, has taken the wind out of them. The extension of a key tax credit for wind energy set to expire at the end of 2008 was left out of the economic stimulus package, reviving uncertainty about expansion of the renewable power source at a time of record-high prices for traditional energy. ...While more than 3,000 new turbines were installed in 2007, concern about the expiration of the tax credits underscores the economic limitations of this form of alternative energy, although supporters say wind power eventually will be competitive without the help of tax credits.

Wind industry leaders don't look for power incentives to dry up and blow away at the end of the year, but there's no guarantee. "Since it takes nine months to build a wind farm, it's getting close to the time the companies will have to make a decision," said Stuart Schaffer, chairman of the Global Projects Group at the Houston law firm Baker Botts. "Do they build and risk the expiration or shut down?" The production tax credit that will expire at the end of 2008 makes up about one-third of the return from a wind farm, meaning millions of dollars are at stake, Schaffer said. As Congress gets back to work after the holidays, wind promoters will be after them.

With a big new solar power plant in the Nevada desert and thousands of wind turbines sprouting nationwide, US renewable energy seems poised for a boom as long as federal tax credits don't suddenly evaporate. After years of start-and-stop growth, wind-and solar- power industries soared in 2007, thanks to three consecutive years of tax credits that provided a critical lift for both sectors. But whether the fledgling industries can fly without tax credits, due to expire at the end of this year, is a question being debated on Capitol Hill this week. As demand grows for a stimulus package for the faltering US economy, green-energy advocates argue that wind and solar - both left out of the new energy law passed last month - should be part of the package.

Where will the next bubble turn up? In Mr. Janszen's view, the alternative-energy industry's expansion is showing some of the same patterns that allowed values to swell far beyond their true worth during the dot-com and housing booms. For starters, green energy is popular with the media and with politicians - "energy security" has become a catchphrase for both Democrats and Republicans. It has received favorable legislation involving loan guarantees and subsidies, just as the Internet got a sales-tax amnesty in the 1990s and deregulation allowed banks to offer more credit to potential homeowners.

Investors in wind-powered electricity are paying close attention to deliberations in Washington over a soon-to-expire tax credit. Congress is debating whether to renew the break beyond this year, allowing producers of wind power to keep collecting a two-cent credit for every kilowatt hour of electricity they harness. It's a big deal to developers like Brent Olson, who is helping build a wind farm in Big Stone County along Minnesota's western border. Its 10 turbines are expected to supply enough electricity for about 5,000 homes. The project, he said, has drawn investments from 100 local residents and there is a lot of money at stake. ...If the credit lapses, it wouldn't be the first time. Congress has let it run out three times in the last decade. When it blinked off after 2003, the industry said construction of new wind farms dropped by 75 percent the next year.

Wind energy companies are hoping for quick action on a tax credit affecting their industry when congress resumes work later this month. The credit is set to expire at the end of this year. The organizer of a wind project in western Minnesota says that is creating uncertainty which could slow development of Minnesota's growing wind production. ...Most people in the wind industry expect Congress will act soon to extend the tax credit past the end of the year. Brent Olson of Big Stone Wind says that should happen in the next few months. If it does not happen, he and others will scramble to decide how that decision affects their corner of the wind energy world.

Wind energy is booming in Iowa, and backers say it's only the beginning. ...But the jobs could blow away, economists warn, just as other manufacturing jobs have disappeared because of competition and technological change. Other states want to attract manufacturers, too. Wind power depends on subsidies, and changes in government policies could dampen the enthusiasm for wind. ...John Solow, a University of Iowa economics professor, is cautiously optimistic about the future for wind generation and turbine manufacturing. Future policy decisions and technological innovations could change that, he said. A breakthrough in clean-burning coal, for example, could reduce interest in wind energy and biofuels, he said.

Offshore wind projects such as Cape Wind would certainly feel the effects of a delay in the renewal of PTCs, said Glenn Wattley, chief executive officer for the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, an anti-Cape Wind group. Without support from the federal government, such as is found in European countries, the project could fail after it is constructed and the public might be left holding the bag, Wattley said. ...The credits — which provide a 2 cents per kilowatt-hour incentive for the first 10 years of wind energy projects — expire at the end of 2008, she said. The missing PTCs were not the only blow to renewable energy in the bill. To get it past the president's pen, Democrats agreed to remove a federal version of renewable energy certificates for utilities.

Growth of a nascent US industry to build and install clean energy sources, like windmills and solar cells, could be stunted if Congress doesn't extend tax incentives set to expire next year, industry officials and lawmakers said Wednesday. Democrats last week dropped a US$21.5 billion package of tax incentives from a broad energy bill after Republicans and the White House threatened to block it. ...In the past, wind and solar tax incentives have been saved in the waning months before they expire. O'Donnell said the lack of long-term assurance of incentives is forcing companies to make solar manufacturing plants outside the United States.

...global investment bank Lehman Brothers agreed to advise and finance the $700m Cape Wind project, the US’s first offshore wind farm located near Nantucket Island and a landmark cause for many environmentalists. This March, Goldman Sachs sold its investment – redubbed Horizon Wind Energy – to Portugal’s largest utility, EDP, for more than $2.1bn, making a profit of $900m. But Lehman Brothers’ project, despite early state-level approvals, has been stuck in bureaucratic purgatory from which it is unlikely to emerge soon. The problem: Nantucket’s millionaire residents oppose the wind farm, which they claim would ruin their ocean views. The contrast between the outcome of the Zilkha investment and the Cape Wind project illustrates the unpredictability of the clean technology sector. “There is no doubt in my mind that renewable energy is like other tech start-ups, where some will succeed and many will not.”

In a nutshell, if you have taxable income, it is reduced by $19 for every megawatt of wind electricity for every hour it is produced. For the top five wind farm owners listed above that comes to about $10 billion. Those $10 billion are not shifted to the deficit. They are shifted to regular taxpayers. Yup, even though none of the top five produce any electricity consumed in Montana, you still get to pay for it with your tax dollars. And what did you get for your tax dollars? Not much. By and large, nothing got built. Existing generation was bought, and the tax incentives were activated, making you a conscripted investor in their acquisition schemes and dreams. Guess that's another loophole Congressman Rehberg can work on with Sens. Tester and Baucus. Of course, that $10 billion is gone with the wind.