Energy Efficiency and Wind Survive the Cliff

It came as a surprise for many that when the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was passed and signed into law to avert the fiscal cliff, some policies relevant to the electrical industry should continue being funded. The bill extended the production tax credit for wind farms and tax credits for energy-efficiency investments for homes and businesses. The act also expanded electric vehicle credits to include electric motorcycles and scooters, which could increase demand for electric vehicle charging equipment.

The wind production credit was widely expected to expire, which had many in the industry and the environmental movement predicting disaster for the build-out of wind farms. Instead the credit was extended and the rules changed so that new wind projects do not need to be finished and online by the deadline Dec. 31; they only need to be started by that date.