U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., is leading yet another attack against the wind production tax credit (PTC). He and 53 other representatives have jointly issued a letter to the House leaders calling for an end to the incentive. According to Pompeo, who wrote a similar letter last year, this is the most recent effort by Republican members in ‘the fight to end crony subsidies for energy corporations,’ as well as ‘an effort to keep electricity costs low for millions of American families.’
‘According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, a one-year extension of the wind PTC would cost American taxpayers over $13.35 billion,’ the letter says. ‘Proponents of the wind PTC continue to call for an extension despite growing evidence that this subsidy has not only cost taxpayers billions, but has caused significant price distortions in wholesale electricity markets.’
The letter later says, ‘By ending this program now we will have given the wind industry a more than generous phase-out for a credit that is being awarded to a mature technology with over 61,100 megawatts of generation installed across the country and 13,400 megawatts under development in 21 states.’
‘Ensuring that our nation’s patchwork tax code undergoes significant reform is a noble goal and, as part of this process, we believe Congress should stop picking winners and losers and finally end the wind PTC,’ the letter adds.
In addition to Pompeo, signers of the letter include the following representatives: Scalise, Jordan, Blackburn, Hanna, Harper, Jones (NC), Whitfield, McKinley, Simpson, Harris, Perry, McClintock, Fleming, Lummis, Wilson, Olson, DeSantis, Ribble, Nugent, Bridenstine, Hultgren, Cramer, Bentivolio, Broun, Guthrie, Kinzinger, Aderholt, Nunnelee, Fincher, Smith, Lamborn, Mulvaney, Weber, Brooks, Gohmert, Hudson, Carter, Franks, Griffith, Lance, Fincher, Schweikert, Shimkus, Barton, Flores, Roe, Westmoreland, Coble, Capito, Barr, Labrador, Holding, and Royce.
The full letter can be read here.
