Your Tax Dollars Are Blowing In The Wind

Have you ever wondered just how much of your tax money is wasted on subsidies to industrial wind producers?

Well earlier this month, our partner organization, the Institute for Energy Research, released the most comprehensive study to date of the impacts of federal wind subsidies across all U.S. States.

As you would expect, the findings don’t paint a pretty picture.

IER analysts found that from 2005 to 2014, the cumulative subsidy allocations from the PTC, ITC, and Section 1603 to the wind industry are at least $18.58 billion!

The study also found that over the last decade, taxpayers in 30 states and the District of Columbia paid more in taxes to the federal government to support wind subsidies than wind producers who own wind facilities in those states received in subsidy allocations.

Although the report discusses states and regions in terms of net losses and net subsidies to show the geographical distribution of federal wind subsidies, subsidies to wind producers come at the expense of all U.S. taxpayers.

This really is a shame considering how inefficient and unreliable wind is as a source of energy.

The environmental left often claims that wind is the “energy of the future” and “cost competitive” with all sources of energy. But if that really is the case why do they insist on billions of dollars in taxpayer money just to survive?

Instead, we should remove these federal subsidies and let the market decide what energy sources really are the most affordable, abundant, and reliable.

Exposing the impact of subsidies to industrial wind producers is a good step in that direction.

To learn more, please check out our full wind subsidy study from our partner organization, the Institute for Energy Research.