{"id":22198,"date":"2014-12-15T10:00:33","date_gmt":"2014-12-15T16:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=22198"},"modified":"2014-12-15T10:00:33","modified_gmt":"2014-12-15T16:00:33","slug":"lawmaker-to-propose-legislation-changing-tax-incentives-for-new-wind-farms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2014\/12\/15\/lawmaker-to-propose-legislation-changing-tax-incentives-for-new-wind-farms\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmaker to Propose Legislation Changing Tax Incentives for New Wind Farms"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_395\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-395\" alt=\"The 147-megawatt Weatherford Wind Energy Center. \" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2011\/08\/wind-farm-300x199.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Travel Aficionado \/ Flickr<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 147-megawatt Weatherford Wind Energy Center.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>Oklahoma Representative Earl Sears, is planning to file legislation modifying tax credits and incentives used by <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/topic\/wind-energy\/\">wind energy<\/a> developers.<\/p><p>The legislation by Sears, R-Bartlesville, would only affect new wind projects and would target three tax credits used by the wind industry: Zero Emission Energy Generation, the five-year ad valorem exemption for manufacturers and other firms, and investment tax credits, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecapitol.net\/storyread.wcs?08B10X22O\">eCapitol&#8217;s Shawn Ashley reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;In my opinion,&#8221; said Sears, R-Bartlesville, &#8220;those tax credits are very lucrative and must be reviewed on behalf of the taxpayers.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote><p><!--more-->Sears, who will lead the high-profile House Appropriations Committee in 2015, says the <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2014\/12\/04\/scrutiny-of-subsidies-could-test-the-economics-of-wind-energy-in-oklahoma\/\">tax credit examination<\/a> is one of his <a href=\"http:\/\/newsok.com\/corrections-and-tax-reform-top-oklahoma-legislative-agenda\/article\/5375858\/?page=2\">top priorities<\/a> for the legislative session. The wind industry says the tax credits are working, and say they often tip the balance in Oklahoma&#8217;s favor when developers are siting projects in states with comparable wind-power potential, including Kansas, Nebraska and Texas.<\/p><p>Jeffrey Clark with The Wind Coalition, a wind industry group, told eCapitol wind developers recognize that current incentives need to be reviewed:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;We are working with lawmakers, and a number will file legislation, and we are willing to work with anyone and everyone to relieve the anxiety associated with the current tax credits and helps keep Oklahoma competitive.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote><p>Sears was the House sponsor of a 2014 measure, Senate Bill 1440, which would have imposed a <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2014\/02\/24\/proposed-law-would-limit-construction-of-wind-farms-in-eastern-oklahoma\/\">moratorium<\/a> on new wind energy projects in northeastern Oklahoma, <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2014\/03\/13\/as-wind-energy-moves-into-eastern-oklahoma-resistance-turns-political\/\">where resistance to wind farms has been particularly fierce<\/a>. That legislation was shelved.<\/p><p>Other legislation or <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2014\/09\/18\/oklahoma-oil-and-gas-regulator-wrestles-with-oversight-of-wind-industry\/\">rules<\/a> regulating wind farm siting, landowner notification and turbine decomissioning could also be considered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oklahoma Representative Earl Sears, is planning to file legislation modifying tax credits and incentives used by wind energy developers.The legislation by Sears, R-Bartlesville, would only affect new wind projects and would target three tax credits used by the wind industry: Zero Emission Energy Generation, the five-year ad valorem exemption for manufacturers and other firms, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[490],"tags":[155,144],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22198"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22198"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22203,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22198\/revisions\/22203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}