Wind Storm

The Federally subsidized wind industry could be in trouble:

An extension of the Wind Production Tax Credit (PTC), a federal incentive allowing for the wind energy industry to remain competitive with traditional forms of energy production, has been left out of a payroll tax cut extension currently making its way through the U.S. House of Representatives.

An earlier version of the highly contentious payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance bill contained the PTC extension, but North American Windpower and other organizations associated with the wind industry reported Wednesday afternoon that a final compromise between congressional democrats and republicans excluded the renewable energy funding — a move that has some in the industry worried.

Mark Parriott, director and general manager of TPI Composites in Newton, has been logging some extra phone minutes in the last 24 hours to area code 202. The local arm of the U.S. wind blade manufacturer is lobbying to persuade Washington lawmakers to pass an extension of the PTC.

“We continue to be concerned as a company and as an industry about the negative effect of an expiring PTC on activity in our industry,” Parriott said in an interview at his Newton office Wednesday.

Supporters are worried. But, as we've seen with solar energy and electric cars, until there's a real market, people just won't see a reason to buy-no matter how much the government would like to force them to.