Wind, ethanol grants included in $858 billion tax package

Lost in the debate of extending Bush-era tax cuts were subsidies for two renewable energy sources.Included in the $858-billion package is a one-year, $3 billion extension of a grant program that caters to the wind power industry.

America Wind Energy Association, which lobbies for the industry, said the program opens the “door for a new wave of wind power and other renewable energy projects” and saves the jobs of “tens of thousands of Americans.”

No word how the program might affect projects in Virginia — offshore wind farms are years away, and onshore efforts led by Dominion Power are moving slowly.

It could help the Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium, which wants to install a test turbine in Hampton Roads near the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge Tunnel.

Also, it can’t hurt the partnership between Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Newport News shipyard and the Spanish firm, Gamesa. The two plan to start a factory that will build offshore wind turbines, the first of its kind in the United States.

The tax package also extends for one year a credit that pays 45 cents per gallon for ethanol blended into gasoline. The credit, expected to cost $6 billion, also includes a tariff on foreign-made ethanol.

The credit and tariff were opposed by U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., and others who wanted to lower both to 36 cents per gallon.

Webb argued the credits are redundant and money saved could be better spent elsewhere, such as reducing the deficit and spurring renewable energy technology.

source: dailypress