Production Tax Credit

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Production Tax Credit ( PTC ) is an American subsidy model for the expansion of renewable energies that is based on tax credits. These are currently (2013) 2.2 US cents / kWh for wind turbines , geothermal power plants and biomass power plants and 1.1 US cents / kWh for other technologies. Funding is usually granted for 10 years.

history

The PTC was introduced in 1992; since then it has been extended and amended several times, most recently at the end of December 2012 as part of the negotiations on the fiscal cliff . Originally 1.5 US cents served as the basis for the calculation, but inflation adjustments have now increased the amount to 2.2 US cents.

The PTC expired on December 31, 2013 following a blockade by the Republican Party, but was later renewed. However, all systems that were under construction by the deadline were still covered by the regulation, which is a new feature compared to previous versions. Until 2012, plants had to produce electricity on the key date in order to benefit from the subsidy. An extension is being negotiated, but no result has yet been achieved due to the blockade by the Republican Party. At the end of 2015, the PTC was extended to 2019 and is then due to expire. [outdated]

Effectiveness and problems

A major problem with the PTC is the lack of planning security, since the PTC is usually only extended for a short time (often 2 years) and has expired several times during its history or was extended at short notice. This results in great uncertainty on the part of the economy, and depending on current legislative decisions, there will be sharp jumps or drastic slumps in expansion. In addition, economic crises, during which financial resources are scarce, have a negative impact on the extension of fiscal supports such as the PTC, which brings additional uncertainty into the market to be promoted.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ US Senate blocks PTC extension . In: Windpower Monthly , May 16, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  2. ↑ US approves five-year PTC phase out . In: Windpower Monthly , December 19, 2015. Accessed November 1, 2015.
  3. ↑ Mariana Aguirre, Gbenga Ibikunle, Determinants of renewable energy growth: A global sample analysis . Energy Policy 69 (2014) 374–384, p. 381 doi : 10.1016 / j.enpol.2014.02.036 .