The US Congress has included the long-sought extension of wind energy tax credits in the final passage of a bill to avert the ‘fiscal cliff’ which is now going to be passed directly to the President for his signature. The tax credit extensions cover projects due to start in 2013 allowing for the 18-24 months it takes to develop a new wind farm. The news means that 75,000 American wind sector employees can celebrate policies which are expected to save at least 37,000 jobs as well as creating more jobs over time. The passing of the extension will also revive business among nearly 500 manufacturing plants across the country.
The two policies affected are the wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credits for community and offshore projects. Both of these helped to install most of the new electrical generating capacity in America last year with factories or wind farms established in all 50 states. President Obama has consistently supported the PTC throughout and he is expected to swiftly sign both tax credit policies into law.
During 2012 the American wind industry set a new record by installing 44 percent of all the new generating capacity in the US compared to 30 percent for natural gas and lesser amounts for coal and other sources. The threat of the PTC’s expiration had however loomed over the industry for more than a year causing layoffs due to idle factories hit by a lack of orders for 2013. The uncertain federal policy program caused a ‘boom-bust’ cycle in US wind energy development for over a decade and if the PTC had been allowed to expire, according to a study by Navigant Consulting, it would have meant half the jobs in the American wind sector – around 37,000 – would have been lost as well as the potential closure of hundreds of US factories in the supply chain.
Denise Bode, outgoing CEO of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), thanked the President on behalf of all the people working in the industry and their families as well as the communities benefitting from wind power in the US.
“Now we can continue to provide America with more clean, affordable, homegrown energy, and keep growing a new manufacturing sector that's now making nearly 70 percent of our wind turbines in the U.S.A” said Rob Gramlich, AWEA’s new CEO who took up his post on 2nd January.
The US Department of Energy (DEA) has predicted that wind will be able to supply some 20 percent of America’s electricity demand by 2030, something that would mean 500,000 good quality jobs with an annual average of over 150,000 workers directly employed in the sector.
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