[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2350]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   EXTENDING THE PRODUCTION TAX CREDIT FOR HIGH TECHNOLOGY WIND POWER

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                         HON. WILLIAM M. THOMAS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 11, 1999

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, today I am reintroducing legislation to 
extend the placed in service date for the Production Tax Credit (PTC) 
for wind power for an additional 5 years. The present credit will 
expire on June 30, 1999. Wind equipment installed after that date will 
not qualify for the credit unless we act to extend the PTC now.
  My bill will allow new high technology wind turbines installed during 
an additional five years to qualify for the 1.5 cent per kilowatt-hour 
PTC created under the bi-partisan Energy Policy Act of 1992.
  The wind power industry's potential in the United States is enormous. 
Wind generating costs have fallen 80% over the past decade and further 
efficiencies are achievable. States like the Dakotas, Iowa, Maine, 
Minnesota, Texas and Colorado offer enormous generating potential. 
Americans are developing new wind technologies that will give us a 
competitive edge as this market expands.
  In addition, wind offers one technology we can promote to achieve 
reductions in climate- changing emissions. The America Wind Energy 
Association has estimated that under an extension of the PTC, working 
in conjunction with a set of policies aimed at further reducing costs, 
wind energy can achieve 30,000 megawatts of generating capacity in our 
country by 2010. Doing so would reduce CO2 emissions by up to 100 
million metric tons, contributing 18% of the reduction that the 
electric industry must achieve to reduce emissions back to 1990 
emissions levels while producing new jobs. That is a goal we can 
support.

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