At the Renewable Energy in the Upper Midwest conference last week in Grand Forks, ND, there was a good session on restructuring the PTC. The PTC's two main flaws were nicely identified:

1) Instability. The expiration of the PTC every two years or so creates a debilitating boom and bust cycle in the wind industry.

2) Esoteric. The PTC is not well designed for local/community based projects. More flexibility is needed. (Possibly make it tradeable or saleable, some debate over how best to do this.)

The bottom line is that the PTC remains a key incentive for wind energy, but it is badly in need of reform. Below is a summary of the ND conference session. I have copies of the presentations if anybody is interested.

Restructuring the Production Tax Credit
Coordinator: Kim Christianson, Energy Program Manager, Division of Community Services, North Dakota Department of Commerce, Bismarck, ND

Session Goal: The federal production tax credit (PTC) is often viewed as a mixed blessing for the wind energy industry. The on-again, off-again nature of the PTC has a major impact on the financing of wind projects and on the manufacturers of wind energy components and other service providers. This session will examine the history and current use of the PTC and explore suggested changes to further wind energy development.

Moderator:
Michael Noble, Executive Director,
Minnesotans for an Energy Efficient Economy, St. Paul, MN

Panelists:

• Michael Noble, Executive Director, Minnesotans for an Energy Efficient Economy, St. Paul, MN
  
• Ron Lehr, Attorney, National Wind Coordinating Committee, Englewood, CO
  
• Mark Willers, President, MinWind Energy, Luverne, MN
  
• Lars Moller, President, DMI Industries, Inc., West Fargo, ND