Jun. 17--Federal tax benefits for wind power development may be scheduled to lapse next year, but wind farm developers proposing local projects are unfazed.

The New York Times reports that the federal government provides about $2.57 million per year in tax breaks for wind farm development. Wind Farm developers say that while the PTC, or production tax credit, has not yet been renewed by Congress, they still are expecting it. "I think at this point, everyone is pretty certain it will be extended," said William M. Moore, a project manager for PPM Atlantic Renewable. Mr. Moore's company has proposed the Horse Creek Wind Farm in Clayton and operates Maple Ridge Wind Farm in Lewis County in conjunction with Horizon Wind Energy. The tax breaks give wind power companies $19 per megawatt hour of electricity produced a year, Mr.

Moore said. The proposed Horse Creek Wind Farm, with 62 turbines, would yield 200,000 to 250,000 megawatts of electricity a year, he said. If tax incentives remain the same, the company would see $3.8 million to $4.8 million in tax relief for the project. Mr. Moore said that in the 1990s, there were lapses when the PTC was not renewed, which hurt wind farm developers. "It was a real problem. People would invest in the industry and gear up, and then the extension would change," he said. James H. Madden, a developer from BP Alternative Energy, also anticipates that some type of government incentive program will be put into effect once the current PTC expires.

"The general feeling in the industry is that it will be renewed," he said. "If it were completely cut, it would hurt wind farm developers." BP's proposed Cape Vincent Wind Farm is in the interior of Cape Vincent, extending into the town of Lyme. Mr. Madden said that in the last 20 years, changes in technology have made wind farm development more profitable. He estimated that it used to cost about 40 cents to produce a kilowatt hour of electricity. That has dropped to about 5 cents, he said. There are 1,000 kilowatts in a megawatt, meaning the production cost of producing a megawatt of power has dropped from about $400 to $50 over the past few decades.