US legislators are in the final stages of an end-of-year rush to pass a $1.1 trillion government spending and tax bill, which includes renewable energy incentives.
At the heart of the discussion is a 40-year ban on crude oil exports, which Republicans want to end. Democrats may back the move if Republications agree to renew tax credits for wind and solar power, among other concessions.
Leaders in both parties and both the senate and the house have been working on the bills and final details have yet to be released.
Any measure to reinstate the production and investment tax credits for wind energy must be adopted before Congress adjourns for the year later this month.
After the renewable energy tax credits were allowed to briefly expire in 2013, installations of new wind farms fell 92%. The incentives were reinstated in 2014.
The PTC pays 2.3 cents/kWh during the first 10 years of wind farm operation and the ITC is worth up to 30% of the costs of developing and building wind projects.
Wind development has attracted more than $100bn in private investment to the US economy since 2008, said the American Wind Energy Association. The federal tax credits have been instrumental in allowing the industry to lower costs by more than 50% in the last five years.
Image: US Capitol building (US government)
