Governors press Congress on wind tax credit

A bipartisan group of governors is calling on congressional leaders to pass a multi-year extension of tax credits for the wind energy industry.

In a letter sent to Congress on Monday, governors from four states urged lawmakers to extend the production tax credit after letting it expire at the end of last year.

{mosads}”Thousands of jobs were lost, as were substantial new investments and local payments,” the letter states.

Talks are in the works on Capitol Hill to draft a tax extenders package, which the credits for wind will be included in, but the governors say something needs to be done now.

Governors form Iowa, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington wrote that the wind industry taxcredit must be extended “regardless of the status of tax reform.”

“The livelihood of our citizens should not be sacrificed while longer-term, economy-wide tax code solutions are debated,” the letter states.

The Governors of the Wind Energy Coalition sent the letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Monday.

Investment in wind-generated power installations have fallen dramatically since the tax credits expired last year, according to a report by Navigant Research released last week.

Opponents of the production tax credit say the renewable source has grown enough to survive on its own in a competitive market.