Dear Alice:
Thank you for contacting me about our nation's energy tax policy. I appreciate having your thoughts on this issue.
You expressed opposition to legislation intended to extend or expand tax credits for wind energy. Currently, for owners of wind facilities there is a federal tax credit equal to either 30 percent of the capital costs of the project or 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour produced from the facility for 10 years. A taxpayer may only claim either the investment tax credit or production tax credit, but not both. As you noted tax credit for wind facilities is scheduled to expire at the end of 2012.
As you know, there were a number of amendments proposed to the highway bill, known as Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21 st Century or MAP-21 (S. 1813), that would have extend ed or expanded this tax policy. One amendment, sponsored by Senator Stabenow, would have reinstated a policy that would provide a cash grant equal to 30 percent of the construction costs for this year and also extend the production tax credit for wind facilities until January 1, 2014. The amendment failed in a vote of 49 to 49 on March 13, 2012.
I opposed this amendment because it failed to provide any offsets for this loss of federal revenue and frankly at a time when Americans pay nearly $4 per gallon at the pump, it is clear that every federal energy tax policy must be reexamined in order to properly assess exactly how these policies are helping to reduce energy bills for the American people. In fact, I believe our federal energy policies should be focused on assisting households in improving their energy efficiency and promote energy savings for homeowners, and therefore have called upon Secretary of the Department of Treasury, Tim Geithner , and Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Jeffrey Zients , to work with Congress to fundamentally reform our energy tax policies. The Stabenow amendment simply extended or expanded current tax policies rather than reforming these policies in a manner that will actually work for the American people.
You may be interested to know that the Congressional Research Service reported in early May of 2011 that approximately 39 percent or $3.4 billion of energy tax expenditures support the development of renewable energy while 28 percent or $8.7 billion support fossil fuels. Many of these tax incentives, which increase our country's unsustainable deficit, were enacted years ago and the merits of their extension have not been demonstrated to Congress or the American people. As a senior member of the Finance Committee, which is charged with addressing our nation's tax code, I believe it is imperative that we begin to reevaluate the efficacy of America's energy tax policies. Given the reality of our economic climate, I strongly believe that the 112 th Congress must work tirelessly to rein in burgeoning deficits to return the budget to fiscal sanity while prioritizing any investment into energy efficiency.
This is why I, along with Senators Bingaman and Feinstein, introduced the Cut Energy Bills at Home Act, S.1914, on November 18, 2011. The Cut Energy Bills at Home Act seeks to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide individual taxpayer credit for performance-based home energy improvements. Upon introduction, S.1914 was referred to the Senate Finance Committee for further review, and you can be assured I will fight tirelessly for its passage in the Senate. In the third quarter of last year, consumers spent 6.2 percent, or $668 billion on an annualized basis, of their personal income on energy, which is the highest amount on record to date. Such a burdensome expense drains household incomes and further reduces expenditures that promote job creation and improve overall quality of life.
As Congress considers any tax legislation, I will continue to further review the effectiveness of our nation's energy tax policy in the critical effort to reestablish a pro-growth and sustainable tax code, end wasteful government subsidies, and meet our nation's investment priorities without subjecting our children and grandchildren to continued deficit spending. Should the full Senate consider additional legislation concerning wind and other forms of renewable energies, please be assured that I will examine it carefully, keeping your thoughts and concerns in mind.
Again, thank you for taking the time to share your views. I value your opinion and hope that you continue to inform me of the issues that concern you.
Sincerely, OLYMPIA J. SNOWE United States Senator
Comment
performance-based home energy improvements.
end wasteful government subsidies
keep talking to the officials... she listened to us.
Yes, I got this too
yes.....wind is mentioned
I am also a privleged one! HA!
I received it too. Apparantly her present policy line and it is better than nothing.
U.S. Sen Angus King
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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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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