Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has ensured that a laundry list of tax incentives – including a two-year extension of the wind energy production tax credit (PTC) – are included in a tax extenders bill that the Senate Finance Committee will consider on July 21.
Under the provision for the PTC in the extenders package, taxpayers can claim $0.023/kWh for wind and other renewable electricity produced for a 10-year period from a facility that has commenced construction at the end of 2014. They can also elect to take a 30% investment tax credit instead of the PTC. The bill extends these credits through Dec. 31, 2016.
The inclusion of the wind energy provision was a particular victory for Grassley, as allies of non-renewable energy sources are highly critical of wind energy and work against it.
The inclusion of the wind energy provision comes after Grassley urged the committee chairman to include it, noting the provision deserves a fair shake compared to many long-standing tax provisions benefiting non-renewable energy sources.
Grassley authored and won enactment of the first-ever wind energy PTC in 1992. The incentive was designed to give wind energy the ability to compete against coal-fired and nuclear energy, and it helped to launch the wind energy industry. He has worked to extend the credit ever since.
‘Certainty and predictability in tax policy are both important for retaining and creating jobs,’ Grassley says. ‘The Finance Committee leaders deserve credit for getting an early start on extending tax provisions. The energy items not only help to support jobs – they also support the renewable energy that consumers want for a cleaner environment and energy independence.’
