Critics say "good riddance" to the expiration late last year of a federal production tax credit (PTC) that paid wind, geothermal and biomass energy generators 2.3 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for as long as 10 years. They contend that the wind market, in particular, has been around for decades and that it should not continue to be supported by the PTC if it is not yet self-sufficient.
"How long do you give an 'emerging market,' [because the wind industry] has been doing this for decades," says Thomas J. Pyle, president of non-profit American Energy Alliance, which last month undertook a week-long initiative including a $40,000-ad campaign with its parent firm, the Institute for Energy Research, targeting the subsidy.