Full Title: Revealing the Hidden Value that the Federal Investment Tax Credit and Treasury Cash Grant Provide To Community Wind Projects
Author(s): M. Bolinger
Publisher(s): USDOE Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Publication Date: January 1, 2010
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
More importantly and to the point of this report, the financial crisis spawned two major stimulus packages in the U.S. that, in combination, have fundamentally reshaped the federal policy landscape for wind power in general, and for community wind projects in particular. Most notably, qualifying wind projects can now, for a limited time only, choose either a 30% investment tax credit (ITC) or a 30% cash grant in lieu of the production tax credit (PTC) that wind has historically received. To qualify for the 30% ITC, projects must be placed in service by the end of 2012. To qualify for the 30% cash grant, projects must either be operational by the end of 2010, or else must begin construction by then and be placed in service by the end of 2012.
It stands to reason that community wind, which has had more difficulty using the PTC (production tax credit) than has commercial wind, may benefit disproportionately from this newfound ability to choose among these federal incentives. This report confirms this hypothesis.