Grassley: Wind power tax credit renewal unlikely until after election - U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley told employees at the Acciona Windpower wind turbine plant here that Congress will probably renew a key tax credit for their industry, but not soon enough to avoid a slump in business.

Let's see, the Democrats in particular vilify the oil and gas industry for making too much profit and want to remove some of the deductions they get for income tax purposes despite the fact they at least pay a considerable amount of taxes.  Meanwhile, they are wanting to renew the PTCs for companies investing in wind farms.  Has Congress ever looked into who the heaviest investers in wind farms are?  It certainly is not a 'Mom & Pop' organization.  Does anyone really think Google, Apple, GE, BP and all the other major players in renewable energy plants are doing it for altruistic purposes only?  GE did not even end up paying income taxes at all.

At 35% corporate tax rates, each $1 in PTCs is worth $2.86 in before tax earnings.  To earn that $2.86 requires economic activity on the part of the firm--economic activity of $28 to $32 depending upon the margin at which the company operates--maybe somewhat less for the 'high tech' companies but some economic activity none-the-less.  The PTC increases the companies' bottom lines without having to engage in that economic activity.  But that economic activity creates or maintains jobs within the affected firms or their suppliers.

So, the PTC proponents want the American taxpayer to foot the bill for making uneconomical forms of electrical generation attractive to wealthy investors who no longer have to make a profit upfront to enjoy the benefits of feeding at the public tax trough while simultaneously discouraging investment in newer, more efficient and cleaner coal and natural gas plants that can produce power dependably compared to the intermittency, non-dispatchability, and unreliability of wind and solar power.

PTCs are the path to destruction of the US economy with absolutely no reduction in emissions since while we are busy destroying our economy, China, India, Vietnam and a host of other countries are building coal and nuclear plants to power the industries that have built up in those areas to replace what the US no longer has.

I call destroying our economy with higher priced, unreliable power for nothing a stupid policy.