Tax Law Provision Driving Wind-Farm Development

摘要

The expiration of the federal production tax credit for renewable energy, scheduled to take effect at the end of 2012, is spurring a boomlet in the construction of wind farms.The federal production tax credit (PTC), an important economic incentive for developers of renewable-energy facilities, provides wind-farm owners with a 2.2c/kWh tax credit for wind power generated during the first 10 years of a facility's operation. However, the legislation under which the PTC was most recently extended—the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009—includes a requirement that wind farms be operational by Dec. 31, 2012, to qualify for the tax credit.