Wind energy backers criticize Alexander bill limiting tax credit
The effect could be devastating for the renewable energy, supporters said.
“This is the most direct assault on wind power that we’ve ever seen introduced by a senator,” said Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
The tax credit provides about 25 percent of the cost of producing wind, or 1.9 cents per kilowatt hour, Smith said.
In years when Congress has declined to renew the credit, wind production has slumped, said Richard Ector, president of the Tennessee Valley Infrastructure Group, which builds wind farms across the country.
Ector said at least eight Tennessee companies are “heavily involved in the wind business.” Tennessee also has a commercial wind farm, stretching along a two-mile ridge atop Buffalo Mountain.
Alexander, chairman of the Energy Subcommittee of the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee, defended his proposal Thursday in a statement.
“These are not your grandmother’s windmills,” he said. “They are taller than a football field is long. Wider than a 747 jumbo jet. … And they have flashing red lights that can be seen for 25 miles.”
Alexander’s windmill legislation would:
— Require wind projects to get siting approval from local governments;
— Allow a state to nix a neighboring state’s offshore windmills if they are within 20 miles of the shared border;
— Make wind projects ineligible for federal tax credits if they are located offshore or within 20 miles of military bases or current or nominated UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Alexander said his bill would keep wind farms away from Tennessee ridges, including the Smoky Mountains. But Smith said “nobody is seriously considering any sites near the Great Smoky National Park.”
Alexander didn’t include wind energy supports in a wide-ranging energy bill he proposed earlier this year. That proposal includes provisions promoting solar power and clean coal technologies, and building the country’s liquid natural gas infrastructure.
“We don’t need a national windmill policy, we need a national clean energy policy,” he said this week as his committee started considering that measure.
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The bill is S. 1034
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