Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet released the following statement on the extension of the wind energy production tax credit (PTC).
“While the extension of the PTC was included in a much larger bill that I eventually could not support, it is a worthy investment. Colorado is a wind energy leader and a majority of our state’s Congressional delegation recognized the tax credit’s importance. Our delegation led a national bipartisan and bicameral effort all year long to extend it. It is critical to Colorado’s diverse energy sector, and its extension will help save thousands of jobs across the state. Businesses that rely on the wind industry now have added certainty and we can expect continued investing in this technology. This extension should have been passed long ago and should never have been caught up in Washington’s irresponsible 11th hour act to avert a manufactured crisis.”
Bennet has led efforts in Congress to extend the wind energy PTC. He led eight of the nine members of the Colorado Congressional delegation in a bipartisan letter calling for extension of the tax credit and has introduced two bipartisan amendments with Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), cosponsored by Senator Mark Udall, to extend the PTC. He has also partnered with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Udall to introduce the American Energy and Job Promotion Act, a bipartisan bill to extend the PTC for wind and several other renewable energy technologies. In July, he successfully led a bipartisan group of senators urging the Senate Finance Committee to include an extension of the PTC in a tax extenders bill the committee was considering.
Colorado generates the third highest percentage of power from wind of any state in the nation. It is home to several major wind energy developers and wind turbine manufacturing facilities, employing upwards of 6,000 workers statewide.
Nationally, expiration of the wind production tax credit could cost as many as 37,000 jobs, according to the American Wind Energy Association.
For Bennet’s statement on the fiscal cliff vote, click here.