Feb 22 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Steve Gravelle The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

That's roughly the cost difference between producing a kilowatt-hour of electricity with coal (5.4 cents) and wind (7.6 cents). Since 1992, wind enthusiasts and their allies in Congress have narrowed the cost gap with a 2-cent-per-kilowatt tax credit, renewed every year or two.

This time around, the credit expires at the end of the year, and Rep. Bruce Braley, DIowa, wants to lock it in place for eight years.

"A lot of investors who are looking into renewable energy opportunities are looking for something to provide longterm opportunities," Braley said Thursday morning in Cedar Rapids.

Braley toured Clipper Wind Power's plant in southwest Cedar Rapids, where 300 people build components for the hightech windmills that generate about 2 percent of the nation's electricity. He said extending the 2-cent tax break through 2016 will boost the industry's annual growth rate, already a robust 25 percent.

Allowing utilities to write off part of their taxes will encourage them to shift more of their generation capacity to wind power, in turn helping manufacturers like Clipper to expand, Braley said.

"It's been impossible to get the wind turbines to meet the need," he said. "There's such a pent-up demand." "It's very critical to the growth of the wind industry," said Bob Loyd, Clipper's plant manager. "This is critically important. It kind of levels the playing field." Braley, who introduced his legislation last month, compares it to tax breaks that have protected the ethanol industry. He said municipal utilities in his district are looking for long-term investment rules to pursue wind power projects.

"They're trying to move a greater portion of their portfolio to renewables," he said.

The American Wind Energy Association ranks Iowa 10th among the states in windenergy potential but fourth in generating capacity, with 1,273 megawatts online -- enough to power about 318,250 homes.

Contact the writer: (319) 398-5819 or steve.gravelle@ gazettecommunications.com