‘Stability’ is key in ‘all of the above’ energy strategy — Majority Whip McCarthy

As Congress considers whether to extend a wind-industry tax break, a key House Republican signaled his willingness yesterday to continue providing the incentive, saying “stability” is key to ensuring a diverse mix of energy resources.
House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) stopped short of explicitly endorsing an extension to the production tax credit for wind, a 2.2 cents-per-kilowatt-hour incentive that’s set to expire at year’s end. But he noted the industry should be part of the “all of the above” energy mix Republicans would like to see. [ read more … ]

PTC backers see growing chance for pre-election extension vote

When House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said yesterday that he wants a vote before the election aimed at avoiding the “largest tax increase in American history” looming at year’s end, he did not point to wind energy developers who would see higher costs without an extension of their prized temporary tax break.

Nonetheless, backers of the proposal are seeing brighter prospects that companies that rely on the expiring production tax credit, or PTC, may not have to wait until the eleventh hour for a reprieve. Lawmakers and industry lobbyists see a growing interest in the House and Senate tax-writing committees to get a PTC bill to the floor before November, and some point to the uptick in activity from conservative PTC opponents as a sign that the move to extend the credit is gaining some steam. [ read more … ]

Two big Pennsylvania wind farm projects canceled

Two big wind development projects on Appalachian ridges in Bedford and Clearfield counties have been canceled, and fewer new turbines will be spinning across the nation next year due to the possible end of a federal tax credit program that has driven development. [ read more … ]

Great Lakes projects founder as political winds shift

Nursing a coffee in a café just yards from the Michigan Capitol, Stanley “Skip” Pruss allowed himself to mourn political changes that have slowed state development of wind farms in the Great Lakes. Under former Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D), a clean energy advocate, Michigan made progress with Pruss — then director of the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth — playing a key role. The Great Lakes Wind Council that he helped set up went as far as to produce draft legislation that would set up a regulatory framework for an offshore wind sector. Now, Pruss is outside looking in. [ read more … ]

Developers commit to wildlife protection guidelines, but critics remain

The wind-power industry is fully backing voluntary federal guidelines aimed at siting and operating wind farms in ways that minimize impacts to birds, bats and wildlife habitat. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and 40 wind-power companies this week sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar pledging to adhere to the guidelines, which were developed over a five-year period by a Fish and Wildlife Service advisory committee that included industry officials, conservation leaders, representatives of American Indian tribes, and federal and state regulators.
[ read more … ]