Senate vote doesn’t reflect wind’s bipartisan support

Congress should act to extend the Production Tax Credit as soon as possible, for as long as possible, to avoid forcing the workforce of the American wind industry off another cliff because of uncertain federal policy.

Senator Heitkamp’s amendment to extend the PTC could have encouraged a constructive, bipartisan conversation about how to do that. Instead the amendment, like many offered today to the Keystone XL bill, was viewed as a political issue rather than an opportunity to advance important policy and America’s energy security.

Wind energy has bipartisan appeal among voters across the country and in Congress. Today’s vote does not reflect the level of that broad support, but instead leaves the door open for a continued bipartisan effort to include a PTC extension in energy legislation that is considered by the full Senate.

Leaders in both the House and Senate have begun to tackle broad tax reform, and as part of that process, AWEA will engage with Senators and Representatives from both sides of the aisle to advance a responsible extension of the PTC that continues the success story of American wind power.