Hoeven commends OMB plan to eliminate tax credit for wind energy

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) on Jan. 15 applauded a proposal by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to eliminate the one-year extension of the production tax credit (PTC) for wind energy.

Specifically, OMB made the proposal in its rescissions list, a series of measures contained in the appropriations package that the Trump administration thinks Congress should reconsider and vote to eliminate. OMB sent its list to Congress after former President Donald Trump in December 2020 signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, H.R. 133, into law.

“We have been working hard to finally get the wind production tax credit to expire, but its extension was once again slipped into must-pass legislation in December,” said Sen. Hoeven and U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) in a joint statement. “We appreciate the administration recognizing it’s time for this credit to end and urge our colleagues to join our efforts and support this recommendation.”

The senators also recently urged OMB Director Russ Vought to include a sunset of the wind PTC in a Jan. 8 letter they sent to him.

“We appreciate the president signing the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (H.R. 133) into law, and agree with his assessment that more savings should be achieved by cutting unnecessary provisions included in the bill,” wrote Sen. Hoeven and his colleague. “As the administration prepares to identify specific programs in H.R. 133 that should be targeted to achieve budgetary savings for the American taxpayer, we believe a natural addition to that list should be the elimination of the one-year extension of the PTC for wind energy.”