Bipartisan coalition urges expiration of taxpayer subsidies for wind energy in 2013
(Washington DC – Nov. 25, 2013) U.S. Representative Richard Hanna joined a bipartisan group of 52 House members in calling on Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp to allow the wind production tax credit (PTC) to expire at the end of 2013 as scheduled under current law.
Since its establishment in 1992, the tax subsidy for wind energy production has grown in both eligibility and cost. Today, the PTC subsidizes wind energy production at a rate of 2.3 cents per kilowatt. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, a one-year extension of the tax credit would cost $6 billion and a five-year extension would cost more than $18 billion.
Wind energy is already a mature technology, with 60,000 megawatts of production in place across the United States. The Department of Energy reported that wind electricity was the leading source of new power in 2012, overtaking natural-gas electricity generation.
“Upstate New Yorkers already pay some of the highest tax rates in the nation,” Rep. Hanna said. “My constituents don’t want or need to be subsidizing wind power, which would not be economically viable without reaching into middle class Americans’ pockets.”
“Our government must play a role shifting us away from foreign, hostile sources of energy, but we must do so in a fiscally responsible manner. Wind energy can be part of our future, but it is simply time to stop supporting multi-billion dollar subsidies for an industry which has failed to become efficient or reliable despite immense taxpayer support. I am hopeful that through innovation and competition, wind energy will become economically-viable and help increase our energy independence, without heavily burdening taxpayers for little return as is the case today.”