Washington (Platts)--28Jan2008

As Congress prepares to consider a short-term economic stimulus package,
33 US senators from both parties are pushing for long-term extensions on
federal tax credits for renewable energy projects. The tax credits are set to
expire in December.

The senators, led by Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell, are asking
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, and Kentucky Republican
Mitch McConnell, the Minority Leader, to find a way early this year to extend
the investment tax credit for solar energy and the production tax credit for
wind, incremental hydropower and other renewable resources.

The senators signing the letter -- which includes nine members of the
Senate Finance Committee -- say extending tax credits for these no-emission
energy sources would create more than 100,000 jobs and attract "tens of
billions of dollars in investment" within the next year.

Renewable energy companies already are cutting back on investment because
the tax credits are set to sunset in December, and, according to lawmakers,
initiatives for efficiency in buildings and appliances to curb energy costs
may be affected by sunset of the credits.

"Projects currently underway may soon be mothballed," without a tax
credit extension early this year, the senators said. "Failing to act on these
crucial incentives could choke off promising business investment in 2008 and
miss an opportunity to address higher energy costs, a critical contributor to
sinking consumer confidence and our nation's long-term economic challenges."

The letter to Reid and McConnell does not request that these extensions
be part of the narrow economic stimulus package that was negotiated last week
between Congress and the White House, but Cantwell said the renewable tax
incentives should be part of the package "because they drive economic growth,
make progress on long-term environmental and security challenges facing our
country and eventually put money back in consumers' pockets."

While the US House of Representatives is expected to vote soon on the
stimulus package agreement, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a
Montana Democrat, has scheduled this week a committee markup on its own
stimulus package.

Baucus, who has expressed support for extending the renewable energy tax
credits, indicated last week that a second stimulus package might be the
more ideal vehicle for such a proposal.

--Cathy Cash, cathy_cash@platts.com