Production Tax Credits not being renewed in the U.S.
Blue Mountain Faulkner-1, geothermal power plant, Nevada (source: Nevada Geothermal Power)
Alexander Richter
20 Feb 2012
One of the last remaining support mechanisms for geothermal development in the U.S. is likely seeing an end with the Production Tax Credits not being renewed.
In a combined statement earlier this year the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) , the U.S. Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) and other renewable energy associations were urging the U.S. legislators to extend the production tax credits (PTC) for renewable energy projects.
Over the years the PTC has been renewed pretty much on an annual basis, providing no trustable consistency. Now the U.S. House and Senate negotiations have left out an extension of the PTC.
Essentially the tax credits provided a monetary credit per kilowatt-hour of renewable energy generated and has been the only federal subsidy for renewable energy production and will now – if nothing extraordinary happens – expire by the end of 2012.
This is devastating for the geothermal energy industry, as it has been the only real direct support for attracting investors to projects in the U.S.
