No Carve-Outs for Politically-Favored Industries

WASHINGTON – This afternoon Thomas J. Pyle, President of the American Energy Alliance, sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell expressing the organization’s
opposition to special tax treatment for the wind and solar industries vis-à-vis the Base Erosion Anti-Abuse Tax provision in the Senate tax reform bill.

The text of the letter can be read below:

Dear Majority Leader McConnell,

I am writing to urge you to oppose an unfair carve-out for the wind and solar industries in the tax reform bill. The Base Erosion Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) provision is intended to promote a level playing field for businesses by addressing tax equity investment. Businesses within the wind and solar industries in no way merit preferential consideration.

Wind and solar companies have exploited American taxpayers for decades and the costs must be reckoned with. The wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) alone is set to cost us over $25 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service, between 2016 and 2020. Enough is enough.

The House tax reform bill included the reasonable reduction of the wind PTC from $24 per megawatt hour to $15 per megawatt hour, which would save taxpayers billions. Unfortunately, such a reduction is absent from the Senate bill. Nevertheless, the BEAT provision can mitigate this cost by discouraging tax profiteering.

Twenty-five years of preferential tax treatment is more than any industry deserves. Saying “no” to the wind and solar lobbies’ demands for a carve-out gives Americans a fairer deal.

Sincerely,

Thomas J. Pyle
President, American Energy Alliance