U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) last week sponsored a U.S. Senate-approved amendment to a bipartisan energy bill that would repeal the extension of the wind production tax credit (PTC).
Sen. Hoeven introduced the amendment with U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) to the American Energy Innovation Act, S. 2657, which is currently being debated in the U.S. Senate.
The wind PTC, originally set to be phased out by Jan. 1, was extended for one year as part of the appropriations package passed by Congress in December 2019, according to Sen. Hoeven’s office.
“For years we have been promised the wind PTC would be phased out, yet some in Washington jammed it through despite our opposition,” said Sens. Hoeven and Cramer in a joint statement. “Instead of continuing the wind PTC, baseload coal should be fairly valued to ensure we have grid reliability and resiliency.”
If enacted, S. 2657, introduced in October 2019 by U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), would support innovation in advanced geothermal research and development, among numerous other purposes, according to the bill’s text.