LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

AWEA looks to step up lobbying, political contributions 

Credit:  By Nick Juliano, E&E reporter • Posted: Tuesday, May 7, 2013 | via www.governorswindenergycoalition.org ~~

CHICAGO – Wind industry leaders are urging their members to spend more time lobbying and give more money to political campaigns as they seek to craft a long-term strategy to win supportive policies at the federal, state and local level and defend against their well-funded critics.

The American Wind Energy Association opened its annual conference here with an appeal for industry officials to get more involved in the political process as the organization’s new CEO and board chairman acknowledged that they had a lot of work ahead to design a plan to allow for stable growth for years to come.

The industry’s focus in recent years has been on maintaining the production tax credit, an effort that largely monopolized its lobbying resources last year, which ended with Congress extending the credit to projects that begin construction by the end of 2013.

Gabriel Alonso, the CEO of EDP Renewables North America and chairman of AWEA’s board of directors, told AWEA members the industry’s short-term goal was clear: win a PTC extension of one to three years.

But what if he asked conference attendees what they would need over a longer time frame? “I don’t think I’d get a single answer,” Alonso said in his opening remarks at the conference.

The industry should aim to add about 8,000 megawatts of generation per year, Alonso said, and to avoid the start-and-stop cycle that has surrounded reliance on the PTC. Wind was the largest source of new electricity generation last year, with more than 13,000 MW installed as developers raced to complete projects ahead of the PTC deadline. With few orders placed last year and more leeway in the “begin construction” PTC threshold, analysts expect this year’s wind build will be much smaller, around 3,000 to 5,000 MW.

Incoming AWEA CEO Tom Kiernan divulged few details on what options the industry is considering for the longer term, but he said at a news conference that the approach would “likely have a suite of policy strategies within it.”

Kiernan emphasized the need for the industry to be flexible in working with Congress and to recognize the political realities in Washington.

The ongoing tight fiscal environment has increased skepticism toward energy policies that come with high price tags, and the most recent extension of the PTC is estimated to cost the government $12 billion over the next decade. But winning another extension to the PTC – and the related investment tax credit – remains AWEA’s No. 1 immediate priority, Kiernan stressed.

“It is AWEA’s top priority to extend the PTC and ITC, and we’ll do everything in our power to ensure that’s extended whether that’s this year or next year,” Kiernan said at the news conference.

In his opening remarks, Kiernan urged AWEA’s members to maintain a presence in Washington with the industry “in flux” and the industry’s adversaries continuing a well-heeled campaign to end the PTC. He encouraged companies to work with local chambers of commerce, landowners and other stakeholders to mobilize grass-roots supporters to counter their well-funded opposition.

But he said traditional fundraising also would be important. AWEA’s political action committee donated more than $300,000 to federal candidates for last year’s elections, 58 percent to Democrats and 39 percent to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Kiernan said that the PAC raised about $50,000 at a fundraiser last night but that more would be needed.

“Our adversaries are going to outgun us on the money side,” he said, pointing to the ability for grass-roots wind supporters to counter some of that. But he added, “We do need to raise a lot more money for the wind PAC.”

Source:  By Nick Juliano, E&E reporter • Posted: Tuesday, May 7, 2013 | via www.governorswindenergycoalition.org

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon