The extension of wind energy tax credits — passed as part of the fiscal cliff deal — includes a key change that will make it easier for wind developers in Massachusetts and elsewhere to obtain what are viewed as crucial incentives for a burgeoning industry.
In Massachusetts, the tax credits have helped spur new wind development. Last year, for example, at least half a dozen projects — including the largest in the state, the Hoosac wind farm in the towns of Florida and Monroe — doubled the state’s wind energy generated capacity over the last decade to 99 megawatts, or enough to power at least 26,000 homes.
Comments
What a heinous boondogggle. As if electricity in Mass. is not already high enough...now we'll just distort the market even further towards expensive alternatives. Brilliant economics.
This PTC extension must be labeled as "the triumph of greed over reason". My hat is off to AWEA lobbyists and their politician friends: tacking on this load of legislative pork to what was supposed to be a first step in the solution to the country's deficit problems. If debated on its own merits(?), it didn't stand a chance; inserted into legislation along with the other special interest spending boondoggles, no one would question it. As to the jobs this will save: the only jobs that the wind industry executives cared about were their own. As long as the wind industry’s survival depends upon government handouts and regulatory mandates, two things should be clear: Wind energy does not have a viable business model, and sending more taxpayer and ratepayer money its way is a gross misallocation of funds that could be better spent on research and development of real energy solutions instead of windmills.