www.windaction.org | Tax Breaks & Subsidies

Wind power still in limbo despite renewed tax break
January 21, 2013 by Kyung M. Song in Seattle Times

But the public subsidies alone likely won't be enough to propel more than a dozen proposed wind farms in Washington to quickly start spinning their giant blades. Cheaper natural gas, environmental concerns and plentiful renewable-energy sources for utilities are among a confluence of factors that have taken much wind out of new turbines' sails.

Also filed under [ USA]

Treasury, IRS preparing guidance to clarify renewable credit eligibility
January 17, 2013 by Nick Juliano in E&E News

The timing of the guidance on the new eligibility requirements for the production tax cut remains unclear. Treasury and IRS need to determine how exactly to define when wind and other renewable energy developers can claim the credit after Congress approved a change to its eligibility requirements.

Also filed under [ USA]

US taxpayers giving $4B to foreign firms for green energy projects, study says
January 16, 2013 in Fox News

U.S. taxpayers have forked over nearly $4 billion to foreign-owned companies as part of a stimulus program that pays cash grants to green-energy firms ..."Billions of dollars have filled the coffers of overseas firms while the evidence of the promised permanent jobs and economic growth here in the United States is scarce," the report said.

Also filed under [ USA]

Calif.'s renewable energy rules created a boom, and now also a bust
January 15, 2013 by Anne C. Mulkern in E&E News

They'll reach that target with energy already under contract, creating a bust for developers that were hoping for continued growth, experts said at the American Wind Energy Association's (AWEA) regional summit. ..."For you as developers, the bad news of California being incredibly successful is that we really don't need a lot of contracts right now."

Also filed under [ California]

Lawmaker looks to broader reform debate to pass bill eliminating energy credits
January 15, 2013 by Nick Juliano and Manuel Quinones in E&E News

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) yesterday reintroduced legislation aimed at eliminating tax credits for energy producers and suggested he could support broadening the scope of his effort to also target other incentives, such as deductions enjoyed by the oil and gas industry, in an effort to attract bipartisan support to eliminate all energy-related favors as part of a broader tax reform push.

Also filed under [ USA]

Lawsuit: Obama steered tens of millions to green energy cronies
January 11, 2013 in Bloomberg News

"Defendants used the ATVM loan program as nothing more than a veil to steer hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to government cronies," according to the district court complaint. Today's lawsuits are the latest challenge to clean-energy loan programs administered by the Energy Department, which has come under scrutiny over a $535 million loan guarantee to now-bankrupt solar-panel maker Solyndra.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| USA]

Challenges ahead for wind power developers
January 9, 2013 by Kate Galbraith in New York Times

In the United States, some wind power developers are beginning to focus on wind farms in other countries. They are frustrated by the wrangling over the U.S. tax credit, which will undoubtedly flare up again by next autumn because the tax credit is due to expire at the end of this year. Wind developers in the United States have also been stymied by the falling price of electricity.

Also filed under [ USA]

Xcel Energy clarifies wind energy position after lobbyist implies doubt
January 8, 2013 by Leslie Brooks Suzukamo in Pioneer Press

Xcel won't need more wind energy until 2019 at the earliest, because it has built up a sufficient storehouse of wind energy, Xcel spokeswoman Mary Sandok said. Xcel will revive its idea for a consumer renewable credit with Congress this year when lobbying begins anew on extending the production tax credit beyond 2013.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| Minnesota]

Insight: In "fiscal cliff" bill, White House was key to corporate tax breaks
January 7, 2013 by Patrick Temple-West, Marcus Stern and Susan Cornwell in Reuters

It also became a lesson in how Washington's taste for dishing out favors to special interests is alive and well, despite bipartisan calls for the government to reduce the tax credits it gives businesses and individuals at a time when the nation's debt tops $16 trillion and is growing.

Also filed under [ USA]

With long-term fate of PTC in balance, big utility assesses its relationship with wind industry
January 7, 2013 by Nick Juliano and Hannah Northey in E&E News

The company has not made any final decision about its future with AWEA but is exploring options that would focus its Washington, D.C., lobbying efforts more on securing benefits for customers. It remains to be seen what the company will decide or whether it will seek to establish a splinter group of like-minded companies.

Also filed under [ USA| Minnesota]

Dems dig in against spending cuts to clean-energy programs
January 7, 2013 by Zack Colman in The Hill

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), a second-term lawmaker who opposes energy credits, said he believes Congress "can get rid of a big swath" of energy subsidies. "I've spent the first two years in Congress talking about these market distortions," Pompeo told The Hill. "This is the stuff that five years ago wasn't even talked about. I think we've made a lot of progress in getting awareness."

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| USA]

Developers say wind tax credits are not crucial to local projects
January 6, 2013 by Nancy Bean Foster in New Hampshire Sunday News and Union Leader

In averting the "fiscal cliff"' last week, Congress also extended tax credits for wind energy development for the next year, but while the news is good for the industry, several developers say they aren't the deciding factor when looking at New Hampshire projects.

Also filed under [ New Hampshire]

Top Wind Utility: Wind subsidy benefits industry, not consumers
January 4, 2013 by Lachlan Markay in The Foundry

"Congress prolonged some of the worst energy policy" by including subsidies for the industry in the fiscal cliff deal, Heritage's Nick Loris wrote on Thursday, noting that the PTC "distort[s] prices by disguising the costs of certain energy choices while exacerbating the costs of others."

Also filed under [ USA]

The fiscal cliff deal helped wind power. But our wind policy is still insane.
January 4, 2013 by Brad Plumer in Washington Post

Whether there's a longer-term boom depends a lot on what policies Congress sets this year. Many conservatives would prefer to stop subsidizing wind power altogether after 2013, saying that it's too expensive, too intermittent and too hard to integrate into the grid. ..."The goal shouldn't be to simply subsidize industries endlessly."

Also filed under [ USA]

Post-PTC extension, wind energy developers face new questions
January 4, 2013 by Mark Del Franco in North American Windpower

"Among the issues the IRS will have to decide is whether to give developers the option to treat an entire wind farm as a single facility for this purpose so that the start of construction of one turbine will be considered the start of work on the entire project," Martin adds.

Also filed under [ USA]

Indiana wind energy industry wants longer tax credit
January 4, 2013 by Ken Kusmer in Associated Press

Officials with Indiana's wind energy industry say they are relieved by Congress' one-year extension of a tax credit but contend it will take a longer-term approach to grow the business and create jobs in the state.

Also filed under [ USA| Indiana]

Wind industry secures tax credit, but damage may be done
January 4, 2013 in KERA News

The wind energy industry is dependent on something even more unpredictable than wind: Congress. Hidden in the turmoil over the "fiscal cliff" compromise was a tax credit for wind energy.

Also filed under [ USA| Texas]

Local wind farm could benefit from tax credit
January 4, 2013 by Matt Sanctis in Springfield News-Sun

Although the PTC was extended, opponents said the fact that it was approved at the final hour is in indication that legislators were more skeptical of its worth. The PTC can still be amended, Linowes said. ...so it would not be granted to projects that produce most of their energy in the evening, when there is less demand on the grid, Linowes said.

Also filed under [ USA| Ohio]

Issa takes aim at revised wind credit
January 3, 2013 by Zack Coleman in The Hill

"In 24 hours the heavily subsidized wind industry has gone from the verge of collapse to a modern-day Gold Rush. H.R. 8 seems to create a perverse incentive to rush production of additional facilities even when there may not be adequate demand for wind, biomass, or geothermal energy," Issa told The Hill in a statement.

Also filed under [ USA]

Wind energy's New Year Celebration will be short-lived
January 3, 2013 by Ken Silverstein in EnergyBIZ

Wind energy has become evermore politicized. Conservatives have viewed its tax credits as endemic of government waste and of the "wrongheaded" approach to energy generation in this country. ...The wind sector got some breathing room New Year's Day. But that reprieve will be short-lived, giving way to additional uncertainty by summer.

Also filed under [ USA]