www.windaction.org | Tax Breaks & Subsidies

Wind energy dropped 1,500 MW due to withdrawal of incentives
May 13, 2013 in Business Standard

According to various reports these incentives were scrapped as many developers took incentives to save tax and after the completion of incentives either neglected or abandoned the wind farms altogether.

Also filed under [ Asia]

Vatenfall looking to sell stake in Trump wind farm
May 10, 2013 by Frank Urquhart in The Scotsman

Speculation the project could end up “dead in the water” intensified when Swedish company Vattenfall – Europe’s sixth-largest generator of electricity – announced plans to put its 75 per cent stake in the venture up for sale.

Also filed under [ UK]

Wind energy group devising plan to present to tax committees
May 6, 2013 by Zack Colman in The Hill

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.

Also filed under [ USA]

Call to phase out production tax credit gathers pace
May 1, 2013 by Diane Bailey in Windpower Monthly

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.

Also filed under [ USA]

Origin CEO Grant King says carbon tax, renewables targets hurt industry
May 1, 2013 by Michael Bennet in The Australian

The boss of Origin Energy, one of the nation's largest energy providers, has called for a review of Australias renewables targets along with the carbon tax, which he said put the nation at an increasing competitive disadvantage .

Also filed under [ Impact on Economy| Australia / New Zealand]

PTC clarity to ease renewable energy additions, questions remain
April 30, 2013 by Conway Irwin in AOL News

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.

Also filed under [ USA]

Ag industry concerned about renewable energy bill that would increase electricity costs
April 27, 2013 by Eric Brown in Greeley Tribune

"This would just be terrible for the dairies around here," said Weld County Commissioner and Platteville-area farmer Doug Rademacher, who added that Weld County's five-member Board of County Commissioners has spoken out against Senate Bill 252. "It would really be disastrous for all of ag. A farmer told me the other day this could increase his electricity costs for (groundwater) pumping by about $8,000 per month."

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| Colorado]

Dummer residents oppose PILOT agreement with wind farm owner
April 24, 2013 by Barbara Tetreault in Berlin Daily Sun

At the end of an almost two hour informational meeting on a proposed payment-in-lieu-of taxes agreement with Granite Reliable Power, selectmen asked how many in the crowd of about 30 support that approach. Only three people raised their hands. The majority said they favored the town annually appraising the wind farm property based on its ad valorem or fair market value.

Also filed under [ New Hampshire]

County holds its ground on new wind business
April 24, 2013 by Kate Hessling in Huron Daily Tribune

"With the instability, uncertainty and lack of direction related to the issues pertaining to wind energy throughout the State, the Huron County Board of Commissioners will not schedule any additional wind turbine action on the Board's agenda until there is resolution to these issues," the letter states.

Also filed under [ Zoning/Planning| Michigan]

U.S. States turn against renewable energy as gas plunges
April 23, 2013 by Christopher Martin in Bloomberg News

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."

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| USA]

Slash wind turbine subsidies, Hudak says
April 18, 2013 by Jeff Bolichowski in The Standard

But with the slashing of two gas plants in the greater Toronto area leaving taxpayers on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars, Hudak said it's critical to cut wind subsidies before the cancellation fees mount. "That's why we've got to stop now," he said. "We've got to turn off the tap. Otherwise the costs are going to be even higher down the road.

Also filed under [ Canada]

PTC Update: IRS clarifies 'commence construction' requirements
April 17, 2013 by Mark Del Franco in North American Windpower

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.

Also filed under [ USA]

IRS defines start of construction for the Production Tax Credit
April 16, 2013 by Keith Martin and John Marciano in Chadbourne & Parke

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.

Also filed under [ USA]

IRS sets wind tax credit regulations for 2013 projects
April 16, 2013 by Richard Rubin & Christopher Martin in Bloomberg News

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.

Also filed under [ USA]

GOP hopes to take some of the wind out of industry’s government aid
April 15, 2013 by Nick Juliano in E&E News

Also filed under [ USA]

Energy tax reform a heavy lift for lawmakers
April 12, 2013 by Darren Goode in The Politico

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.

Also filed under [ Impact on Economy| USA]

Obama seen giving himself wiggle room with call for permanent tax credit
April 12, 2013 by Nick Juliano in E&E News

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.

Also filed under [ USA]

Merkel's no-nuke stumble may erode re-election support
April 11, 2013 by Stefan Nicola in Bloomberg News

Merkel's main opponent in the election, Peer Steinbrueck of the Social Democratic Party, is capitalizing on discontent with the energy switch. In December, he said at an SPD summit that Germans now live in fear of power outages because of government missteps. One month later, the SPD beat Merkel's CDU in a vote in Lower Saxony -- the third straight regional defeat for the incumbent party and a sign that its lead in the national election may be eroding.

Also filed under [ Impact on Economy| Germany]

Obama budget would increase U.S. clean-energy spending
April 9, 2013 by Andy Sullivan in Reuters

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.

Also filed under [ USA]

Sanford, Colbert Busch differ on Clemson wind turbine stimulus money
April 9, 2013 by Schuyler Kropf in The Post and Courier

Sanford said he is not against government funding of research but said the stimulus package was billed as a "jobs" effort, and that the payoff wasn't worth what was advertised. "The question is, is that the way that we get our economy going?" he said.

Also filed under [ South Carolina]