A stalled effort to renew federal tax credits for the wind power
industry is making it hard to keep employees on the payroll and plan for
expansion, a group of executives said Tuesday, but two high-profile
Washington figures advised them not to expect help until after the
November election.
The Production Tax Credit, the primary cost-saving policy for the industry, expires at the end of the year and the executives said their companies are already feeling the effects.
“The issue is, the longer you wait, the more critical (the tax credit) becomes,” said Jan Blittersdorf president of Vermont-based NRG Systems, a 25-year-old company that manufactures goods for the industry. “This is really serious. This is the first time in 30 years we’ve had to do layoffs and once you start to dismantle this system it’s hard to put it back together.”
Blittersdorf echoed the fears of several panelists at the WINDPOWER 2012 Conference & Exhibition about job loss, not just within their own companies, but in the entire sector. They said suppliers would also be strapped for cash when the demand suddenly drops.
Tom Carnahan of Wind Rose Partners said the industry has experienced fluctuations before, but this is different.
“There is more at stake this time; every month matters, is critical,” Carnahan said. “Developers have already started layoffs and every quarter of this year we are going to lose jobs. It will be a tragedy not to find a way to get this tax (credit) extended...”
Executives say extending the tax credit would not only benefit suppliers and manufacturers, but also the estimated 75,000 people employed by the industry.
The problem does not appear to be a lack of political support, former presidential aides Karl Rove and Robert Gibbs told several thousand people gathered in Atlanta for the annual conference.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/wind-power-executives-voice-concerns-about-jobs-as-renewal-of-federal-tax-credit-faces-delays/2012/06/05/gJQATxGDHV_story.html
The Production Tax Credit, the primary cost-saving policy for the industry, expires at the end of the year and the executives said their companies are already feeling the effects.
“The issue is, the longer you wait, the more critical (the tax credit) becomes,” said Jan Blittersdorf president of Vermont-based NRG Systems, a 25-year-old company that manufactures goods for the industry. “This is really serious. This is the first time in 30 years we’ve had to do layoffs and once you start to dismantle this system it’s hard to put it back together.”
Blittersdorf echoed the fears of several panelists at the WINDPOWER 2012 Conference & Exhibition about job loss, not just within their own companies, but in the entire sector. They said suppliers would also be strapped for cash when the demand suddenly drops.
Tom Carnahan of Wind Rose Partners said the industry has experienced fluctuations before, but this is different.
“There is more at stake this time; every month matters, is critical,” Carnahan said. “Developers have already started layoffs and every quarter of this year we are going to lose jobs. It will be a tragedy not to find a way to get this tax (credit) extended...”
Executives say extending the tax credit would not only benefit suppliers and manufacturers, but also the estimated 75,000 people employed by the industry.
The problem does not appear to be a lack of political support, former presidential aides Karl Rove and Robert Gibbs told several thousand people gathered in Atlanta for the annual conference.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/wind-power-executives-voice-concerns-about-jobs-as-renewal-of-federal-tax-credit-faces-delays/2012/06/05/gJQATxGDHV_story.html
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