Merkley Cosponsors Bill Supporting Wind Power

Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley this week cosponsored the bipartisan American Energy and Job Promotion Act, a bill that will extend the Wind Production Tax Credit for two years. Without an extension, the tax credit will expire at the end of this year.

“This tax credit has helped companies create thousands of jobs in Oregon and plenty of clean energy,” Merkley said. “Companies that are making investment decisions right now are already cutting back in fear this tax credit will lapse. We need those manufacturing and construction jobs and we need clean energy, so we need to extend this tax credit without delay.”

The Wind Production Tax Credit provides 2.2 cent per kilowatt hour credit for power produced by qualifying renewable energy sources. The tax credit has existed since 1992, but expired on several occasions - in 2000, 2002, and 2004. In each of those years, there was a dramatic decline in installed wind capacity in the United States. If the tax credit expires, the American Wind Energy Association, an endorser of the bill, concludes 37,000 manufacturing jobs will be lost.