Obama official: Ending wind credit could have 'devastating effect'

Letting the wind production tax credit (PTC) expire at the end of this year “could have a devastating effect” on the wind energy industry, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said Tuesday.

Wind, or any other energy industry, needs “some level of certainty” about incentives they bake into business plans, Wellinghoff said in response to a question from The Hill at the Platts Energy Podium in Washington, D.C.

He advocated that, if the wind credit were to end, it should happen in a phased manner rather than with an “arbitrary and immediate cutoff.”

Wellinghoff was giving his personal opinion on the Monday announcement from GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign that he favors letting the PTC end as scheduled on Dec. 31.

The Obama administration has called on Congress to extend the wind credit. The administration and wind industry firms say the uncertainty surrounding the tax incentive has led to layoffs.

An Obama aide on Monday criticized Romney's PTC stance, arguing it is at odds with his promises on jobs and portraying the GOP White House challenger as tied to oil and gas interests.

The PTC pays wind power producers 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour. The number of wind power installations has plummeted in the past when the credit was allowed to lapse, which last happened in 2004.

Many lawmakers have dallied on the PTC issue because they want to take a broader look at the federal tax code. A large contingency of Republican lawmakers also oppose what they view as an Obama green energy initiative.