"Recently Capitol Hill was inundated with wind energy advocates eager to make their case to extend the Production Tax Credit (PTC).
...Originally, the federal wind PTC was passed to jump-start the wind industry and provide wind energy producers with a subsidy of $22 per megawatt hour of electricity generated.
Extended several times, the PTC is finally set to expire come December 31, saving taxpayers over $12 billion a year.
Costly and ineffective, this tax credit has proved a failed attempt at promoting clean energy.
In addition to the direct cost to taxpayers, there is an outstanding obligation of approximately $10 billion for projects built during the past decade.Under the renewable energy bailout of 2011, there could be an additional $20 billion liability due to eligible wind projects—another burden taxpayers will bear.
According to Larry Bell, a Forbes contributor, in many parts of the country the PTC actually exceeds the wholesale price of power.
...AWEA has spent well over $3 million during the past two years influencing lawmakers.
According to financial disclosures,
...In these desperate times, as our nation falls deeper into debt and the political establishment is afraid to make the tough decisions, allowing the PTC to expire seems like a no-brainer.
Pouring more money into a hopeless industry is as productive as burning dollar bills as fuel..."
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