May 14, 2015 | By Jaclyn Brandt

New Jersey is hoping to bring back the wind energy credit -- and this week the state's Senate Environmental Committee passed a resolution asking Congress and President Obama to reinstate the production tax credit (PTC) for wind energy.

Atlantic City, New Jersey. Credit: Chin tin tin/Wikimedia Commons

The committee unanimously passed the resolution, SCR 159, which will next go to the Senate for a vote.

"The production tax credit is a federal incentive that provides financial support for the development of renewable energy facilities, including wind energy, by providing a per kilowatt-hour incentive for the first 10 years of a renewable energy facility's operation," the resolution read. "Originally enacted in 1992, the production tax credit has been renewed and expanded numerous times, and... has been a major driver of wind power development in the United States, resulting in significant economic and environmental benefits."

The federal PTC expired at the end of 2013. The resolution said the PTC helps provide support to the wind energy industry, and when removed, "has wreaked havoc." It explained that reinstating the tax credit for wind would help New Jersey reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to enforce the "Offshore Wind Economic Development Act" -- or S2711.

In February, the New Jersey Senate passed S2711, which would force the approval of an offshore wind power plant by the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU). The Fishermen's Energy LLC plant would be located off the coast of Atlantic City, but the company has been facing regulatory obstacles since first submitting their application in 2011. Fishermen's Energy received a denial from BPU in April 2014, which said the project had not secured enough funding to support its price. In May 2014, the project received a $47 million grant from the Department of Energy.

"We have offered to modify the project, to include different turbines, local financing sources, refine the pricing or other conditions -- whatever the BPU considers an impediment to approval," said Chris Wissemann, CEO of Fishermen's Energy, in a statement in 2014.

S2711 would also remove any requirements by Fishermen's Energy to submit a cost-benefit analysis to the BPU, and the BPU's decision was not required to be based on a cost-benefit analysis.

Whether or not the offshore wind project is approved, lawmakers in New Jersey are ready to use their wind resources to bring jobs and renewable energy to the state. SCR 159 asks the federal government to help them toward this goal.

"The President and the Congress of the United States are respectfully urged to expeditiously take action to reinstate and extend the production tax credit for wind energy in order to promote job creation, economic growth, and environmental benefits," the resolution said.

For more:
- read the resolution
- read this resolution

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