Falling natural-gas prices make solar and wind developers seek more federal help; unlikely

Wind and solar companies' costs have fallen, but they say they need more subsidies because the cost of natural gas has fallen sharply. But support for wind and solar is dropping because of concerns about the federal deficit and the failure of Solyndra, a solar-module maker than got almost half a billion dollars in federal loan guarantees. Industry leaders say they will have to cut production and employment without subsidies, reports Diane Cardwell of The New York Times. (NYT photo: Turbine inspection)

Wind companies like turbine producer Iberdrola depend on the production tax credit, which has been in place since 1992. It allows a credit of 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour of generated for the first 10 years of a project's operation. That's enough to eliminate the price difference between wind and fossil fuels, industry representative say. The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimated the credit would cost $6.8 billion from 2011 to 2015. It's set to expire at the end of this year. A tax break popular with solar companies that allowed them to recoup 30 percent of the cost of new projects when construction ended expired last year.

Wind projects account for more than a third of all new energy production in recent years. More solar projects were installed in the last third of 2011 than in all of 2009. The wind industry will support 78,000 jobs this year, but that will decrease to 41,000 in 2013 if tax credits aren't extended. Solar will add 37,000 jobs this year if tax credits are extended for a year. Lobbyist are trying to include extensions in the bill to extend payroll tax cuts. (Read more)