Tax reform to allow continued wind power investment and job growth

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act near passage in Congress will allow the continued growth of American wind energy, and the investment, jobs, and other economic benefits it brings to rural communities. The bill to be voted on later this week preserves the orderly phase-out through 2019 of wind energy tax credits, ensuring stability for American factories that build wind turbines, and investors who back new wind farms.

“We are grateful to our champions in Congress for their work to craft a pro-business tax reform bill that will continue the success story of American wind power,” said Tom Kiernan, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association. “The bill respects the 2015 bipartisan phase-out, preserving through 2019 the Production Tax Credit and Investment Tax Credit, which the wind industry uses to access capital and invest in U.S. infrastructure. We also recognize improvements made to the new Base Erosion Anti-Abuse Tax to enable continued investment. We deeply appreciate the work of Members of Congress who stood up for wind workers and rural America, and look forward to continuing our work with these Congressional champions as we deliver more factory orders, construction contracts, and jobs.”

The final tax reform package honors the PATH Act of 2015, which provided for a gradual phase-out of the tax credits through 2019. The predicable phase-out is expected to unleash $85 billion in economic activity and create nearly 50,000 new wind jobs by 2020, according to Navigant Consulting. Numerous trends are expected to drive further wind power adoption into the 2020s.

Jobs in the wind energy sector grew nine times faster than in the overall economy in 2016, and wind turbine technician is one of the fastest-growing jobs in America, 2016-2026. Over 500 American factories in 41 states manufacture parts for the supply chain, and farming communities across the heartland host wind turbines as a drought-proof cash crop.