Wind Production Tax Credit Still Up in Air

The US Senate recessed for Memorial weekend without voting on the Expire Act, which includes the production tax credit (PTC) for clean energy and the investment tax credit (ITC) election for wind.

The PTC expired on Dec. 31, 2013, but if passed, the Expire bill would retroactively extend it to Dec. 31, 2015. Alternately, the bill would allow wind developers to choose a 30 percent ITC in lieu of the PTC.

The Expire bill is hung up in the Senate due to unrelated partisan fighting.

According to a blog from the Natural Resources Defense Council, Republicans are refusing to pass the Expire Act unless it includes a medical device provision, which falls outside the scope of the bill and harks back to their unhappiness with Obama Care.

Political pundits suggest the Expire Act will eventually be passed later this year after elections. Renewables groups such as the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) say this start-and-stop federal policy is wreaking havoc on their industries.

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