Subsidies for Me, but Not for Thee

The Department of Energy’s proposed grid resiliency rulemaking was the wrong solution for a genuine problem. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rightly voted to terminate the rulemaking, instead requesting information from grid operators and the public about how to address the undervaluation of coal and nuclear power generation in electricity markets. But before we move […]

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Wind Lobby’s Incoming Chairman Spins the Facts

A recent Utility Dive article examines how the wind industry might cope without the wind Production Tax Credit (PTC), which is designated to expire in five years. The wind PTC is a subsidy that pays wind producers a significant sum just for producing wind energy. The Institute for Energy Research (IER) has outlined the ill […]

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Wind Lobby Blows Smoke on PTC Elimination Act

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) sent a letter to Congress on June 18 in opposition to the PTC Elimination Act, a bill that would phase out and eventually end a subsidy that has funneled billions of taxpayer dollars into the wind industry over the last two decades. While AWEA claims that the PTC creates […]

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What is the State of Wind Energy in America?

This week the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) CEO Tom Kiernan published an op-ed at The Hill‘s Congress Blog titled “The State of the Wind Industry is Strong.” We noticed that Mr. Kiernan’s piece omitted several important points about the state of American wind energy, so we took it upon ourselves to make those additions for him, our […]

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Lies, Damned Lies, and “Conversations with AWEA”

In a desperate attempt to provide cover for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) made an embarrassing gaffe. It is no secret that the EPA and the NRDC have been bedfellows for a number of years. The NRDC draws up blueprints for new regulations, and the EPA puts those blueprints […]

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Wind PTC Inextricably Linked to EPA Power Plant Rules

An earlier article explained that for President Obama, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), and the national environmental lobby, the wind Production Tax Credit (PTC) is at the top of the to-do list for the lame-duck session that will close out the 113th Congress. While lawmakers debate the PTC, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is […]

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The Wind PTC: What It Is And Why Congress Should Reject It

When Congress returns for the start of the lame duck session this week, they will discuss whether to approve a retroactive extension of the expired Production Tax Credit (PTC), which primarily benefits foreign and domestic wind companies. For a host of reasons, they shouldn’t. Most importantly, they shouldn’t because the PTC is inextricably linked to […]

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Wind PTC Gives to the Rich at the Expense of the Taxpayer

In a recent speech, former U.K. Environment Secretary Owen Paterson compared the U.K.’s Climate Change Act to the policies of the infamous Sheriff of Nottingham in the story of Robin Hood: “It amazes me that our last three energy secretaries, Ed Miliband, Chris Huhne and Ed Davey, have merrily presided over the single most regressive […]

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