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)

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

Get weekly updates
RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Stripe

Donate via Paypal

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

Trump administration agrees to help wind farms with subsidy tweak 

Credit:  Reuters | May 7, 2020 | www.reuters.com ~~

The Trump administration on Thursday agreed to change rules governing key renewable energy tax credits, a win for wind farm owners seeking more time to claim the subsidies because new projects have been stalled by the global coronavirus pandemic.

In a letter to Senator Charles Grassley, Frederick Vaughn, principal deputy assistant secretary in the Treasury Department’s Office of Legislative Affairs, said the department “plans to modify the relevant rules in the near future” for the renewable energy tax credits.

He was not specific about what those changes would be.

Vaughn was responding to a letter sent by Grassley and five other senators to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last month in which they asked for a rule change that would allow a one-year extension to claim the credits for projects that started construction in 2016 or 2017.

An extension is likely to benefit wind energy projects primarily. Wind farms currently can claim a tax credit worth 1.5 cents for every kilowatt-hour of electricity produced if they break ground before Jan. 1, 2021.

“The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted supply chains, construction operations, and permitting timelines, delaying projects otherwise on track to be in operation by the end of 2020,” the lawmakers’ April 23 letter said.

Grassley is a major supporter of the tax credit that has driven expansion of wind farms and related manufacturers over three decades. His home state of Iowa generated more than 40 percent of its power from wind last year.

Renewable energy trade groups said they were encouraged by the letter.

“We look forward to further detail on this critical issue, and extend our appreciation to the Treasury Department for this important step, which will help the renewable sector continue as a key economic driver through this downturn,” American Council on Renewable Energy President Greg Wetstone said in a statement.

Since March, wind and solar energy companies have called on Congress here to help the sector avoid project delays and keep financing flowing by extending deadlines and by making credits available for so-called direct pay, meaning they could be converted to cash.

Changes to the solar tax credit, which is worth 26 percent of a project’s value and falls to 22 percent next year, would have to be passed by Congress.

Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Cynthia Osterman

Source:  Reuters | May 7, 2020 | www.reuters.com

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 Contributions
   Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)
Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI M TG TS G 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 Wind Watch on Truth Social

Wind Watch on Gab Wind Watch on Bluesky