Improving Tax Incentives for Wind Energy Production: The Case for a Refundable Production Tax Credit

The purpose of this Article is to further our understanding of how the production tax credit works and does not work as a tax incentive to promote investment in renewable energy and to fight climate change. For reasons to be discussed, the tax incentives traditionally available present a number of transaction costs and limitations that make them less effective than alternative incentives. Specifically, this Article looks at the way the production tax credit is employed in the context of wind farm development. Because similar tax incentives and market conditions are relevant to other renewable energy industries, such as the solar energy industry, the wind industry was chosen as a representative case study within this context.

Though the production tax credit has been important for encouraging growth throughout the renewable energy industry, it has been especially important in the context of wind energy.