U.S. Production Tax Credit extended one year

 

The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, at the end of 2019, passed legislation that extended by one year the wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC). President Donald Trump signed the bill into law.

The PTC is designed to reduce the cost of operating wind farms, thereby incentivizing their development and construction. The PTC provides wind farm operators with a tax credit per kilowatthour of renewable electricity generation for the first 10 years a wind farm is in operation.

The one-year extension builds on the previous PTC, which was passed in 2013 and provided a maximum tax credit of 2.3 cents per kilowatthour. The value of that PTC was gradually reduced beginning in 2017 and expired on Dec. 31, 2019. The new 2020 PTC provides a tax credit of 1.5 cents per kilowatthour.

“This bipartisan bill is a major win for American consumers,” says Tom Kiernan, CEO of American Wind Energy Assn. (Washington, D.C.). ‘It means more business for over 500 U.S. factories building wind turbine components, and it means more opportunities for job creation and economic development in the rural communities hosting wind farms. We appreciate that Congress has recognized wind and other renewable's role in building a strong economy while also reducing carbon emissions."