The wind industry in the United States is booming in 2014; it installed more in the first 9 months than it did during the whole of 2013, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).
The AWEA expects that 2014 will also finish strongly for the wind industry, and 2015 will be even more positive, Cleantechnica has reported. This year, 19 wind projects have already been completed. There is a record number of new wind farms under construction, and costs have dropped to the lowest ever, the AWEA has stated. According to the US Department of Energy, the cost of US wind power has dropped by over half in just 5 years.
Part of the reason for the significant growth has been the Production Tax Credit (PTC), which allows a lower tax rate to wind power developers over the initial 10 years of a project. Of course, these tax incentives have their critics, but as Cleantechnica points out, critics often ignore the fact that fossil fuels, including coal, have a long history of subsidies and incentives, which continue to this day.
Image CC licensed by Jim Hammer
Via Cleantechnica
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