WASHINGTON – The Senate today passed a bipartisan provision from Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. Jeff Merkley to restore funding for wind energy research for fiscal year 2017 to the level provided for the current fiscal year. The measure allocates an additional $15.4 million to wind energy research from within existing research programs at the Department of Energy, so it does not increase overall spending.
“Wind energy is popular wherever it’s given a chance,” Grassley said. “New technology enables all kinds of renewable energy to advance. Research funding promotes the next wave of development. Wind energy deserves fair treatment among government support for different energy sources. This provision gives wind energy the attention it deserves.”
The measure passed as part of the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 2028), approved 90-8. The next step is consideration by the House of Representatives.
The Grassley-Merkley amendment passed the Senate 54-42 last month as an amendment to H.R. 2028.
Grassley is the author of the original production tax credit for electricity from wind and has successfully worked to renew the tax credit ever since.
Late last year, he secured a long-term, five-year extension and phase-out of the tax credit, intended to give the industry certainty for investments and job creation. Grassley notes that the wind energy industry is the only energy industry that has proposed a phase-out of its tax benefit, unlike many longstanding industries like oil and gas that have permanent tax benefits.
Grassley last week took questions from employees of TPI Composites, a wind turbine blade maker in Newton, and celebrated the resurgence of the area as a wind energy center after the loss of Maytag jobs.
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