Coalition to Congress: Support PTC Elimination Act

The American Energy Alliance joined this week with 19 other organizations in opposition to the wasteful wind Production Tax Credit (PTC). In a letter to the House of Representatives, the coalition encourages Members to support H.R. 1901, a bill introduced by Congressmen Marchant and Pompeo earlier this year to eliminate the wind PTC. Below is an excerpt from the letter:

Ending the wind PTC is an important initiative for several reasons. First, it is pro-taxpayer. Since it was created in 1992 taxpayers have sent billions of dollars to large multinational corporations in the wind industry. The last extension alone is estimated to cost taxpayers over $6 billion over the next ten years. Secondly, it is pro-consumer. Since wind is an unreliable source of energy it is often more expensive than other sources of energy. Eliminating the PTC allows the market to decide when wind power makes sense for consumers, and when it doesn’t.

The subsidy also kills jobs and stifles innovation. The PTC leads to net destruction of jobs by diverting capital away from projects that make the most financial sense and because wind is a more expensive form of electricity. For example, one study of Spain’s green energy subsidies found that for every 1 green job created, 2.2 jobs were eliminated elsewhere.

Finally, the wind PTC is an essential component of EPA’s regulatory agenda, including the looming carbon rule. EPA regulations are projected to shutter 90 GW of reliable energy by 2020. The EPA is pursuing aggressive regulations of existing power plants that amount to a federal takeover of the electricity system. One of the goals of this regulation is to shift electricity from reliable, low-cost sources like coal toward renewable energy like wind. Without the wind PTC, mandating renewables is a much more difficult task because the true cost of wind is not obscured by a large subsidy. Extending the wind PTC helps enable this federal takeover by the EPA.

The coalition letter will remain open for additional signers.

Click here to read the full coalition letter.