THE SUPERCOMMITTEE FLOP & NEW ENERGY

Debt Committee's Inaction Not So Super For Renewable Energy Policy
Mark Del Franco and Jessica Lillian, 22 November 2011 (Windpower Monthly)

"The failure of the debt supercommittee to reach a resolution for cutting more than $1.2 trillion over 10 years brings further uncertainty about key renewable energy incentives. [Due to intractable partisanship, it is unclear if the group even broached renewable energy policy].…

"Reportedly…[ agreement] broke down along party lines - Democrats aiming to initiate tax increases and Republicans balking at the idea. This also meant that the future of key incentives important for renewables, such as extensions of the Sec. 1603 cash-grant program, (which expires at the end of this year) and the production tax credit (which, for wind, expires at the end of 2012, and 2016 for solar), is still murky…"

click to enlarge

"…Frank Maisano, an energy analyst at Washington, D.C.-based Bracewell Giuliani…envisions a few scenarios that extend renewable energy policies…[E]xtensions could be part of a continuing resolution - an omnibus bill whose passage is needed in order to keep the government running - that has to be passed by Dec. 16…[or] part of a separately introduced bill…[G]iven the political split on Capitol Hill, the second scenario is less likely…

"…Christi Tezak, senior energy and environmental policy analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co…[is less optimistic]…[She noted that extending the cash-grant] program adds to the deficit…[O]ther than the payroll tax extension, which the White House has indicated it would like to see extended even if it is not offset, all other program extensions appear to need to be paid for…[Tezak said she] would be very surprised if any expiring program other than the payroll tax gets extended this year…"