FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 8, 2002
CONTACT: Lisette Mondello
SENATE PASSES WIND ENERGY TAX CREDIT
Senator Hutchison says energy source has "tremendous potential"
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said the Senate's vote on Friday to reinstate a tax credit for producing wind energy will benefit Texas, which ranks second in the nation in the amount of electricity produced from wind.
"Promoting wind energy seamlessly marries responsible environmental stewardship with promising energy development," Senator Hutchison said. "It also makes good economic sense by encouraging job growth, especially in Texas."
Wind energy was the world's fastest-growing energy source during most of the 1990s. The terrain and weather conditions in Texas make it an ideal location for wind energy production from wind turbines. The state led the nation this past year in the amount of new investment in wind power, with $800 million.
"Wind power has tremendous potential as an energy source. It is renewable, and it doesn't generate air or groundwater pollution," Senator Hutchison said.
The tax credit was included as part of a comprehensive tax package that also extended unemployment benefits by 13 weeks. The legislation (H.R. 3090), which has already passed the House, will be sent to the president for his signature.
The wind energy production tax credit was first enacted as part of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. It provided a 1.5 cents/kilowatt energy hour credit, adjusted for inflation, for electricity produced with wind energy equipment for the first 10 years of a project's life. The current bill passed by Congress sets the rate at 1.7 cents/kilowatt energy hour.
The senator said she was encouraged by how quickly wind energy grew as an energy source over the last decade – expanding at annual rates ranging from 25 percent to 35 percent. Last year in Texas alone, more than 900 megawatts of wind generation was installed – current installed capacity in the United States is 4,258 MW. A one-megawatt wind turbine typically generates enough electricity to power the equivalent of 300 average U.S. households.
Senator Hutchison also pointed out costs for producing electricity from wind have greatly declined, from 38 cents per kilowatt-hour in the early 1980s to about three to six cents/kwh now, depending on the size of the plant. "As this industry becomes more efficient, wind becomes more viable as a steady source of energy," she said.
H.R. 3960 passed the Senate 85-9. It extends the wind energy production tax credit through the end of 2003 and makes it retroactive to January 1, 2002.
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