Talk of a Wind Subsidy ‘Phaseout’

The wind industry, fighting to hold onto a generous tax credit set to expire in December, has been arguing that it does not need the support forever – just a little while longer, until it can compete with fossil fuels on its own.[1]
The Production Tax Credit (PTC) is nothing more than a Welfare Program for the wind industry, and it should be allowed to expire.

 The PTC was Enacted by Congress in 1992 as a temporary measure to beef up the wind industry

by subsidizing wind power  2.2 cents per kilowatt hour .
Between 2009 and 2013 Wind Subsidies cost American taxpayers $14 billion and $6 billion of these alone were from the Production Tax Credit.[2]

The potential of the Production Tax Credit expiring in December 2012 does not Bode well with Wind proponents.

The argument being used by the American Wind Energy Association and their supporters is that without the Production Tax Credit thousands of jobs will evaporate.
As a result of this thinking, U.S. lawmakers said they may consider extending and then phasing out the main tax break for producing wind energy. [3]

However, this argument is nothing more than a sham
As it now stands the current law provides the benefits of the Production Tax Credit be phased out.   For example, there is 10 year benefit eligibility for turbines after they have been constructed. Turbines created in 2007 will receive the PTC until 2017. So any turbine that is created before the deadline will continue to receive benefits for a decade, until January 2023. [4]

Realistically if this industry has not been able to get on its feet after twenty years and
 Billions in tax subsidies , it is time to stop the insanity.

[1] NY Times Green Blog subsidy phase out

 [2] Press Release Senator Lamar Alexander 

[3] Bloombergu-s-lawmakers-consider-phaseout-of-wind-energy-tax-break

[4] National center for Policy analysis http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=22278