A new Department of Energy (DOE) laboratory study finds that taxpayer-funded wind turbines have failed to meet consumer demand because they fall into disrepair after the expiration of government subsidies.
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) analysis, which examined output at 917 wind farms throughout the U.S., showed a 13 percent performance decrease after 17 years, with an “abrupt decline” occurring after the production tax credit (PTC) no longer applies.
“The production tax credit lasts 10 years but after that, the DOE lab study is saying that this maintenance is reduced and so they are not generating as much energy as they could, because the wind is still blowing, the wind resources are out there,” Mary J. Hutzler, an Institute for Energy Research (IER) distinguished senior fellow, who recently wrote a post about it, told the EP News Wire.
Data released last month by the U.S .Energy Information Administration shows that wind supplied 2.7 percent of the nation’s energy in 2019, and 7.3 percent of its electricity.
The PTC was first enacted in 1992.
An April report by the Congressional Research Service noted, “When first enacted the PTC was scheduled to expire July 1, 1999. Since 1999 the PTC has been extended 12 times.”
Congress most recently approved a one-year PTC extension last December, in the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2019.
“The Berkeley Lab is first major government study showing that there are issues with the way the tax credit is designed,” Hutzler said. “Taxpayers are really paying for this – it’s a government energy source that’s expected to cost $40 billion from 2018 to 2027. If you look at the sector technology by technology, it’s the most subsidized energy source there is.”
Besides lack of maintenance leading to declines in energy production, there is not adequate equipment or landfill space to dispose of wind turbines no longer in use, Hutzler said.
“The main thing is that Warren Buffet was right about wind farms, the only reason they built them was because of the tax credit,” Hutzler said.
Alerts Sign-up