Vestas president urges Senate to extend wind tax credit

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Vestas-American Wind Technology President Martha Wyrsch urged the U.S. Senate to immediately extend the Production Tax Credit that helps owners of wind-energy projects afford to build them.

Wyrsch told the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure on Wednesday that it must not let the PTC expire at the end of 2012.

“An extension of the PTC is necessary for the continued employment of the 80,000 people working in the U.S. wind industry,” Wyrsch said. “Wind energy has grown dramatically in the past several years, creating a manufacturing renaissance in the U.S., and the PTC has been a significant drive in that growth.”

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Vestas has invested roughly $1 billion in Colorado since 2008, when it opened its first North American production plant in Windsor. The company has since opened facilities in Brighton and Pueblo, employing more than 3,000.

The PTC, which has been available since 1992, offers a 2.1 cents-per-kilowatt-hour credit to owners of wind-energy projects once a wind turbine begins producing electricity, making investment in such projects more attractive.

The PTC has previously been extended several times in its nearly 20-year history. During that time, the U.S. wind industry has grown dramatically, with more than 400 production facilities in 43 states manufacturing wind turbine components, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

A report by Navigant Consulting on Dec. 12 said 37,000 American jobs could be lost if the PTC is not extended.