• 3 minutes e-car sales collapse
  • 6 minutes America Is Exceptional in Its Political Divide
  • 11 minutes Perovskites, a ‘dirt cheap’ alternative to silicon, just got a lot more efficient
  • 4 hours GREEN NEW DEAL = BLIZZARD OF LIES
  • 7 days If hydrogen is the answer, you're asking the wrong question
  • 22 hours How Far Have We Really Gotten With Alternative Energy
  • 11 days Biden's $2 trillion Plan for Insfrastructure and Jobs
UK Labour Leader Unveils Onshore Wind Power Plans

UK Labour Leader Unveils Onshore Wind Power Plans

UK Labour Party Leader Keir…

Natural Gas Stands To Win As Offshore Wind Takes A Hit

Natural Gas Stands To Win As Offshore Wind Takes A Hit

The ongoing commoditization of offshore…

Wind Lobbyists Push UK Government For More Subsidies

Wind Lobbyists Push UK Government For More Subsidies

Leading lobbyists from the wind…

Daniel J. Graeber

Daniel J. Graeber

Daniel Graeber is a writer and political analyst based in Michigan. His work on matters related to the geopolitical aspects of the global energy sector,…

More Info

Premium Content

U.S. Congress Breaths Life into Wind Energy

U.S. Congress Breaths Life into Wind Energy

The U.S. government announced this week it was issuing a request to see whether or not there was any competitive interest in leasing more than 100 square miles of an area off the coast of Long Beach, N.Y., for wind development. Plans spelled out by the New York Power Authority could open the door for 350 megawatts of renewable energy for area consumers. The federal government said the measure was part of the Obama administration's "all-of-the-above" energy strategy that envisions a diverse resource base. Political intransigence over a federal budget deal, however, nearly brought the fledgling U.S. wind energy sector to a standstill.

NYPA proposed a site about 11 miles off the coast of Long Beach for a wind farm the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management stated could expand to 700 MW. The agency said it was looking to determine whether or not there was enough interest in the commercial project to issue a lease on a competitive basis, or go ahead with a non-competitive lease for 127 square miles offshore.

U.S. lawmakers, in a last-minute deal, averted sending the national economy over the so-called fiscal cliff with deep budget cuts and high tax increases. Including in the congressional debate was the fate of a federal tax credit for wind energy. Some in the industry worried over the fiscal package to the degree that they stopped hiring as negotiations pushed into the final hour. With a deal in hand, however, wind developers can start moving forward on the late season wind-energy push by the Obama administration.

Related Article: Are Wind Subsidies the Best Use of Taxpayers Cash?

The BOEM in mid-December announced it received a request from the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy to research a wind-energy lease area off the state coast. That same month, the regulator determined that was nothing in the way of an offshore wind project planned by the North American division of Norwegian energy major Statoil. Their plan would cover about 22 miles offshore Maine and generate 12 MW from a pilot program for four floating offshore wind turbines.

The production tax credit salvaged by U.S. lawmakers means wind energy would be competitive with natural gas because of a 2.2 cent credit per kilowatt hour. An investment tax credit gives smaller wind projects a significant break on costs. But utility company Xcel Energy complained the tax credit does little to benefit consumers, saying it may break away from the American Wind Energy Association for how it handled itself during fiscal debates. Nevertheless, state leaders on the U.S. east coast said the tax credit breaths much-needed life into the burgeoning wind energy sector.

Last year, this column noted there was "nothing blowing in the U.S. wind energy sector," at least offshore. But for onshore developments, wind energy in 2012 made up more than 40 percent of the new electrical generating capacity in the United States, compared with 30 percent for conventional resources. The cost for wind energy, meanwhile, is down more than 20 percent since 2008. Though it may be 2014 before new wind energy comes on stream, the AWEA said the tax credit "will allow continued growth of the energy source that installed the most new electrical generating capacity in America last year."

By. Daniel J. Graeber of Oilprice.com


Download The Free Oilprice App Today

Back to homepage





Leave a comment
  • Fred Olsen on January 08 2013 said:
    I don't care. The government will only work to have their utility friends or other industry friends own the sun and wind so they can sell it to us. How is that any better? Learn to make or harvest your own energy-- that's the only way that we'll not be at the mercy of corporate rapists.

Leave a comment




EXXON Mobil -0.35
Open57.81 Trading Vol.6.96M Previous Vol.241.7B
BUY 57.15
Sell 57.00
Oilprice - The No. 1 Source for Oil & Energy News