Here is a quick update on some of renewable energy legislation that is bouncing around the house and Senate. This update will cover the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), Production Tax Credit (PTC) the Small Wind Systems Tax Credit and the Anti-Wind Subtitle D Energy Bill.

The RPS in the House of Representatives
The Energy bill coming to the House floor later this month includes no national standard for renewable energy. However, it is anticipated that a national RPS will be proposed in an amendment offered by Rep. Tom Udall (D-NM) and Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA) based largely on their bill, H.R. 969. There are currently 120 cosponsors (out of 435 Representatives in the House) on H.R. 969. To move the RPS forward, more cosponsors are needed on H.R. 969 and members of the House need to support the Udall, Platts RPS amendment when the energy bill comes to the House floor in July. If we do not win this vote on the House floor, it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to secure enactment of an RPS this year.

Click here to send an email to your Representative about the RPS.

The RPS in the Senate
Due to procedural maneuvering by RPS opponents, the RPS did not come up for a vote. However, it may come up for a vote later in the year.

PTC in the Senate
A five-year PTC extension was included in a tax provision that did not get the 60 votes (out of 100) needed to finish debate on the issue. Only 57 Senators, and therefore, the PTC extension was killed. Senate Leaders are planning another vote on the tax package before the end of July.

PTC in the House of Representatives
The House Ways & Means (tax) Committee approved a bill (H.R. 2776) containing a 4-year PTC with a complex cost cap that would stymie wind development by cutting around $10 million from the bottom line on an average sized project. The PTC would be limited to the lesser of 2.0 cents per kilowatt-hour — OR — 35% of wind project costs. AWEA opposes the “35 percent cost cap” and is working to remove it, but they need our help.

When you email, call and visit your Member of Congress and tell him or her that:
1) The PTC must remain at “Full Value” in order to keep building new wind projects and keep creating jobs.
2) Changing the PTC will create huge uncertainty in the wind industry.

Click here to send an email to your Representative about the PTC.

Small Wind Systems Tax Credit in the House
The House tax package also contains a small wind turbine incentive — however, it would not be as effective as the simple 30% investment tax credit sought by AWEA. The 30% credit is contained in the Senate version of an energy tax package.

Click here to send an email to your Representative about the Small Wind Tax Credit.

Subtitle D Anti-Wind Energy Bill, H.R. 2337
In early June, the House Natural Resources Committee Chair Nick Rahall (D-WV) backed away from requiring regulations for the wind energy industry on birds and bats that would have halted development of wind farms in the U.S. for at least the next two years. Instead, energy legislation (H.R. 2337) emerging from the committee will call for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (F&WS) to work with the wind industry and other interested parties to develop voluntary guidelines aimed at reducing the already minimal effect of wind turbines on birds, bats and other wildlife.