Congress is beginning to fear that the Obama administration's push for renewable energy will produce more jobs in Asia and Europe -- where most wind turbines and solar panels are made -- than in the U.S.
The proposed remedy is a provision in the economic-stimulus bill that offers tax breaks to U.S. producers of the equipment.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D., N.M.), chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is urging support for a provision in the Senate version giving a 30% tax credit to companies that expand or build U.S. manufacturing facilities geared to renewable energy, clean transportation or electric-system upgrades.
"Several of us have come to recognize that we've outsourced the very things we're going to need to change the nation's energy mix, and this is a way of encouraging more manufacturing here at home," Mr. Bingaman said.
More...
The situation highlights a weak link in U.S. industrial policy: Although tax credits are offered to those building renewable-energy projects, there are no comparable incentives for domestic equipment makers. That could undermine President Barack Obama's goal of fostering job creation through adoption of renewable-energy and so-called green technologies -- a key component of his economic-recovery plan.
The renewable-energy tax breaks' initial cost to the Treasury is capped at $2 billion. The version of the bill passed by the House of Representatives doesn't contain the provision, so to become law it would have to be revived during the House-Senate conference.
Though the U.S. added more wind-generating capacity -- about 8,300 megawatts -- than any nation last year, it lags as a producer of wind equipment. Only one American company, General Electric Co., ranks among the top suppliers of wind turbines globally.
A recent study by the Renewable Energy Policy Project in Washington, D.C., found that each megawatt of wind capacity installed in the U.S. creates 4.85 full-time jobs, of which 3.4 come from making components -- which is done mostly outside the U.S. The remainder come from such services as installation and maintenance.
The U.S.'s renewable-energy sector has added some significant manufacturing capacity recently. The American Wind Energy Association said this past week that wind suppliers expanded or added 55 facilities last year. But that increase has been outstripped by growth abroad.
American Superconductor Corp. of Devens, Mass., designs wind turbines and licenses its designs to other companies, then helps them build manufacturing facilities. In recent years, it has inked deals with a dozen companies, none of them American.
One customer, South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., is "specifically targeting the U.S. market," said Greg Yurek, chief executive of American Superconductor. Korea's government said last week it is investing $4.37 billion to help Korean companies close the technology gap in 15 energy-product areas including wind, solar and battery technology.
SunPower Corp. of San Jose, Calif., assembles solar cells into solar panels in China and the Philippines, even when the finished product is destined for California, a state that is spending heavily on renewable power. Julie Blunden, SunPower's head of government policy, said a 30% tax credit "would put the U.S. back in play" and might get her firm to build a U.S. manufacturing campus.
Oerlikon Solar USA, a seller of plants that make thin-film solar modules, has sold 10 plants so far but none of the buyers is setting up a plant in the U.S.
Complete Original Article
No comments:
Post a Comment