Washington (Platts)--18Jun2008

The federal production tax credit for wind energy more than pays for
itself through tax revenue from the project's income, vendor's profits and
workers' wages, GE Energy Financial Services said Wednesday.

In a study released at the American Council on Renewable Energy's
Renewable Energy Finance Forum in New York, the General Electric unit
estimated that wind farms built in 2007 carry a net present value benefit to
the US Treasury of $250 million. The existing credits are set to expire at the
end of 2008.

"Congress is debating how to pay for the wind tax credits perhaps without
realizing that, over time, wind farms pump more money into the US Treasury and
state and local coffers than they take out," Kevin Walsh, GE EFS' managing
director of renewable energy, said at the conference. "Our study shows that
the wind farms more than pay for themselves through existing tax revenues, so
it's time to renew the incentives immediately."

The company said the production tax credit for wind -- as well as similar
incentives for solar and other renewable energy sources -- has expired three
times in the past nine years, each time causing a 76% to 90% drop in installed
capacity from the previous year.

The most recent attempt to renew the incentive failed earlier this month
in a US Senate vote that centered on how to offset the cost of the production
tax credit with tax revenues, the company said.

"Too often, politics, rather than economics, has shaped the debate about
extending the production tax credit," Michael Eckhart, president of the
American Council on Renewable Energy, said in a statement. "GE's new study
identifying additional economic benefits of the wind industry should bring all
parties together, all supporting a proposition that is good for the
environment, good for the economy and even good for the federal treasury."

The study says wind projects that went into operation last year generated
federal income tax revenues from the projects, individual workers'
wages, vendors' profits and land leases. They provide federal tax revenue
after 10 years, when the production tax credits expire, as well.

In addition to those federal tax revenues, the wind projects generate an
estimated $6 million/year in local property taxes, $15 million annually in
state income taxes on wages and profits during construction and $1.5
million/year in taxes while operating.

Using a model that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory developed,
the GE study said US wind farms built in 2007 created more than 17,000
construction-related jobs and 1,600 long-term operations-related jobs. In
addition, the new wind farms provided major environmental benefits, avoiding
about 10 million metric tons/year of CO2 emissions, the equivalent of taking
1.8 million cars off the road, GE estimated.

Wind makes up 80% of GE EFS' more than $3 billion renewable energy
portfolio. The GE unit's total US wind equity portfolio includes 34 farms in
13 states, with combined capacity of 3,550 MW.