AWEA Reports Big Trouble Ahead..Let's Hope So!

From AWEA: See https://www.awea.org/Awea/media/Public-Affairs/COVID-19-AWEA-Policy...

The COVID-19 pandemic related project delays and delivery uncertainty are having an immediate and significant impact on wind project financing and deployment now, particularly putting at risk projects slated to come online in 2020 and 2021. Without policy relief, 25 GW of planned projects are “at risk,” representing 35,000 jobs and $35 billion in investment capital and over $8 billion in tax and land lease payments to state and local communities. Congress can help protect these American jobs and critical community investments by providing projects that qualified for the production tax credit (PTC) or investment tax credit (ITC) in 2016 and 2017 flexibility to complete those projects in five years rather than the four required under existing IRS guidance, a change that will not cost the taxpayers additional money. Additionally, instituting direct payment of the PTC/ITC would help ensure these planned projects can continue to secure financing despite unstable tax equity markets.

....Why COVID-19 is causing wind project delays Project developers are now experiencing COVID-19 related setbacks and uncertainty throughout the project development and construction process. The compounding impact of disruptions will remain unclear until social distancing and travel restrictions are lifted globally, or a “new normal” is established. These delays and uncertainties are having an immediate and significant impact on project financing and project deployment and will have longer-term impacts on project viability and the development pipeline. In the six to 24 months prior to a project coming online, project developers must finalize permitting and commercial financing terms for turbine purchases; secure power offtake agreements; access construction loans; arrange for turbine and component manufacturing; arrange transportation; take component delivery; and mobilize and manage heavy construction equipment and crews. COVID-19 is delaying all these activities. For projects in cold climates, site survey and construction windows can be limited to certain months of the year for worker safety or due to sensitive species being present. In those cases, a COVID-related delay of a few months can mean missing an entire season of site surveys or months of construction time, which can then compound into delays of up to a year. In other instances, an inability to lease land due to COVID-19 restrictions could mean missing a grid operator study cycle or losing a place in the queue, setting the project back months or years.

....Direct Pay COVID-19’s full economic impacts may also reduce the supply of available tax equity and create challenges securing construction loans. Tax equity investments are already being put on hold and project developers are reporting some tax equity suppliers have already exited the market due to the pandemic, and others may follow or significantly scale back investment. Direct payment of the PTC effectively eliminates this risk and helps wind project economics. Under direct pay, PTC credits would be reflected as an overpayment of taxes due, enabling a refund to the taxpayer in that taxable year. Specifically, the wind industry is seeking a 100% direct pay option for any PTC or ITC for projects that commence construction in 2016 and 2017.

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Comment by arthur qwenk on April 27, 2020 at 7:17pm

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you,

Then you Win"

Gandhi

Comment by Penny Gray on April 24, 2020 at 7:01pm

So now's the time to buckle down and fight, fight, fight!  Delay these carpet bagging scammers until their environmentally and economically devastating projects are declared DNR.

Comment by Willem Post on April 24, 2020 at 5:28pm

Who needs wind?

We will use solar electricity during the day, moon electricity at night.

We really have to feel sorry for these millionaire wind folks.

They have been riding the subsidy gravy train for decades, laughing all the way to the bank, paying off/wining and dining politicians, and regulators, while sticking it to ratepayers, taxpayers and adding to debts.

Comment by Kenneth Capron on April 24, 2020 at 5:17pm

"How Dare You mock these misfortunes! People will freeze. Lights will go dark around the globe. We won't be able to run air conditioners. And I won't be able to heat my pool. You Bastards!

Comment by Kenneth Capron on April 24, 2020 at 5:12pm

"Somewhere, Over The Rainbow, Moonbeams (a renewable energy source) shine, 

Don't worry about the cost of it, I'm sure it will be fine (trust me)."

...

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

 -- Mahatma Gandhi

"It's not whether you get knocked down: it's whether you get up."
Vince Lombardi 

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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