Chu calls for wind production tax credit

Jul 12 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Thomas Content Milwaukee Journal Sentinel


Congress needs to pass a wind production tax credit to help manufacturers that serve the wind industry avoid layoffs, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Thursday.

Chu spoke after touring the Menomonee Valley factory opened by Ingeteam, a Spanish conglomerate that chose the city for its first U.S. factory and headquarters.

The wind production tax credit won't be permanent, as even the American Wind Energy Association has come out in support of a credit that will phase out over time as the cost of producing electricity from wind turbines becomes more and more competitive, Chu said.

Chu was joined by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who announced that Milwaukee is joining the federal Better Buildings Challenge that seeks to champion energy efficiency projects that can save commercial building owners on their energy bills.

Barrett said the city will join the initiative and seek to reduce the energy use of downtown buildings by 20% by 2020. Commercial building owners will have access to financing through the Milwaukee Energy Efficiency program, or ME2, he said.

Ingeteam now has 53 employees and has projected it will reach full employment of 275 by 2015, Chief Executive Aitor Sores said.

Chu is heading to Madison as well Thursday to tour the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The center is one of three centers created around the country to accelerate research aimed at overcoming scientific hurdles and bringing down the cost of energy production from biomass.

 

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