Wyden’s Extenders Bill Due March 31 - PTC Advocates Muster for the Fight

Mar 27, 2014

Reading Time : 3 min

Another question for the industry is if the start of construction standard is included, whether the bill or its legislative history will include a requirement that the developer “continuously construct” the project from the end of 2015 through completion. Under current law, the Internal Revenue Service has not imposed the continuous construction standard so long as the project is complete by the end of 2015 (i.e., two years from the last PTC extension).2 However, Representative Dave Camp (R-MI), chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, tax reform proposal would have repealed this generosity from the IRS.

Given Wyden’s support of the wind industry, I would expect the bill to include the option for a project to claim a 2.3¢/KwH production tax credit or a 30 percent investment tax credit. Further, I would expect no alteration to the annual inflation adjustment (i.e., the production tax credit is increased annually by IRS in a manner that tracks inflation).3 

Unfortunately, the fate of the inflation adjustment in the Ways and Means Committee is less clear. In his tax reform proposal, Camp proposed repealing the inflation adjustment for existing wind projects (e.g., a project placed in service in 2010). So, if his Camp’s extenders bill includes the production tax credit, it may be without the inflation adjustment. This could take several forms. First, Camp could propose extending the PTC at the current 2.3¢/KwH without future inflation adjustments. Alternatively, he could take the PTC back down to its original 1.5¢/KwH. The background documents provided with Camp’s tax reform proposal indicated that unnamed wind industry advocates had shared with him that 1.5¢/KwH was sufficient support for wind projects.

The wind industry has recognized that now is the time to muster its advocates on Capitol Hill.  The wind industry appears to be doing a good job of that. Identical letters were sent by dozens of members of Congress to House and Senate leadership on March 21. The bipartisan House letter to Speaker Boehner was led by Steve King (R-IA) and Dave Loesback (D-IA) and was signed by 116 other members. The bipartisan Senate letter to Senators Wyden and Hatch was led by Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Mark Udall (D-CO) and was signed by 24 other senators. The letters advocated for both the extension of the production tax credit and the investment tax credit election for wind projects.

The letters are available here and here. Here are some highlights from the identical letters:

  • The wind industry employs 80,000 Americans in all 50 states.
  • The wind industry is responsible for $105 billion in investment in the United States since 2005.
  • The cost of wind power has declined 43 percent in the last four years.

Five days later, a group of 29 senators sent another letter to Senators Wyden and Hatch. This letter had only Democrats as signatories and is available here. The wind production tax credit was first on a long list of clean-energy-related tax provisions that were requested to be extended. The others were wide-ranging and covered topics from transportation fringe benefits for employees who use public transit and carpools to tax credits for homeowners who install energy efficient windows. Personally, I would rather see these 29 senators focus their efforts on the production tax credit extension.


1 Lindsey McPherson, Wyden Planning to Release Tax Extenders Bill, 2014 TNT 59-3 (Mar. 27, 2014).

2 See § 3.02 of IRS Notice 2013-60.

3 See I.R.C.  § 45(b)(2).

Share This Insight

Previous Entries

Speaking Energy

March 10, 2025

On March 5, 2025, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) approved Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC’s (GPLNG) request to extend a deadline to begin exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its terminal facility currently under construction in Sabine Pass, Texas for 18 months, from September 30, 2025, to March 31, 2027 (the Order). The Order amends GPLNG’s two existing long-term orders authorizing the export of domestically produced LNG to countries with which the United States does and does not have free trade agreements (FTA).1  The Order does not amend the authorizations’ end date, which remains December 31, 2050. Under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA), the DOE may authorize exports to non-FTA countries following completion of a “public interest” review, whereas exports to FTA countries are deemed to be in the public interest and the DOE is directed to issue authorizations without modification or delay.

...

Read More

Speaking Energy

March 4, 2025

Join projects & energy transition partner Shariff Barakat at Infocast’s Solar & Wind, where he will moderate the “Tax Equity Market Dynamics” panel.

...

Read More

Speaking Energy

February 13, 2025

Oil & gas companies continue to identify and capitalize on opportunities related to the deployment of new energy technologies, with their approaches broadly maturing and coalescing around maximizing synergies, leveraging available subsidies and responding to regulatory drivers.

...

Read More

Speaking Energy

February 11, 2025

On January 30, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the Commission) approved a Stipulation and Consent Agreement (Agreement) between the Office of Enforcement (OE) and Stronghold Digital Mining Inc. (Stronghold) resolving an investigation into whether Stronghold had violated the PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) tariff and Commission regulations by limiting the quantity of energy made available to the market to serve a co-located Bitcoin mining operation.1 This order appears to be the first instance of a public enforcement action involving co-located load and generation and comes at a time when both FERC and market operators2 are scrutinizing the treatment of co-located load due to the rapid increase in demand associated with data center development.

...

Read More

Speaking Energy

February 5, 2025

2024 was about post-consolidation deal flow and a steady uptick in activity across the oil & gas market. This year, mergers & acquisitions (M&A) activity looks set to take on a different tone as major consolidation plays bed down.

...

Read More

Speaking Energy

January 30, 2025

The oil & gas industry is experiencing a capital resurgence, driven by stabilizing interest rates and renewed attention from institutional investors. Private equity is leading the charge with private credit filling the void in traditional energy finance and hybrid capital instruments gaining in popularity. Family offices are also playing a crucial role, providing long-term, flexible investments.

...

Read More

Speaking Energy

January 23, 2025

Under a second Trump presidency, the U.S. is expected to consider reversal of many of the Biden administration’s climate and environmental policies, in addition to a markedly different approach to trade policy and oil & gas regulation. This includes expanding oil & gas development on public lands and offshore, lifting the pause on liquified natural gas (LNG) exports to non-Free Trade Agreement countries and repealing the methane fee.

...

Read More

Speaking Energy

January 15, 2025

We are pleased to share a recording of Akin’s recently presented webinar, “Drilling Down: What Oil & Gas Companies Can Expect from Federal Agencies During Trump’s Second Administration.”

...

Read More

© 2025 Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. All rights reserved. Attorney advertising. This document is distributed for informational use only; it does not constitute legal advice and should not be used as such. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Akin is the practicing name of Akin Gump LLP, a New York limited liability partnership authorized and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under number 267321. A list of the partners is available for inspection at Eighth Floor, Ten Bishops Square, London E1 6EG. For more information about Akin Gump LLP, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and other associated entities under which the Akin Gump network operates worldwide, please see our Legal Notices page.