Bipartisan Group of Senators Calls for an End to the Wind PTC

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), have joined today in opposition to another extension of the wind Production Tax Credit (PTC). In a letter sent to Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the Senators call for the permanent expiration of the wind PTC. AEA President Thomas Pyle released the following statement:

“The American Energy Alliance welcomes the efforts of this bipartisan group of Senators to put an end to the wind PTC. For decades, American taxpayers have bankrolled the wind industry, and the time has long past to allow the PTC to run its course. This tax credit was always intended to be temporary, but Big Wind has grown addicted to taxpayer subsidies, spending millions year after year to extend and even expand this unnecessary and expensive taxpayer giveaway and fleecing the American people out of billions of dollars along the way.

“Last year’s extension and expansion of the wind PTC alone cost the American people $12.1 billion dollars and another one year extension would cost another $6.5 billion. As Big Wind cries for another extension— even calling for its retroactivity in the event a measure isn’t passed before it expires as planned at the end of the year—this letter sends a strong message to the rest of Congress that it is time to put an end to wind welfare and ensure that the wind PTC blows away once and for all.”

To read the full letter, click here.

To read a comment from Thomas Pyle published today on the National Journal Energy Insiders Blog, click here.

To read IER’s study, “Estimating the State-Level Impact of Federal Wind Subsidies”, click here.