Expiring tax credit threatens wind turbine creation - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

The money for a multi-million dollar tax credit that's supposed to cut your electricity bill and pay for hundreds of new jobs is in jeopardy.

Like them or not, in a few short years, a federal tax incentive has been the fuel that helped build almost 1,000 wind turbines across Indiana.

"There has been a lot of misconceptions about this being federally funded," said Andy Melka, E.ON Climate. "For a total capital investment of $400 million for this project."

In Madison County, construction workers are working against the clock to finish building 125 new turbines.

"This is also important, because Indiana has placed a large emphasis on manufacturing and there's a lot of suppliers for these wind farms in Indiana that are really threatened," said Melka.

The federal tax credit has made wind farms in Indiana economically possible. The price tag for each turbine is $2.5 million, another $500,000 is spent to make them operational. The long-term landowners are paid, on average, $9,000 a year for a 30-year lease.

"We cannot say it is a certainty they will not be built, but it will make things very much more difficult to make the numbers work," said Melka.

The owners of the turbines say they will make back their investment in 10-12 years. The Wildcat Wind Farm turbines are taller than most in the state.

"This tower we are looking at right here, the tip height is 480 feet when the blade is in the 12 o'clock position," Melka said.

One turbine is built to power 450 homes and crews are planning to build another 1,000 in Indiana if the federal tax incentives are renewed. Of the two companies building wind turbines in Indiana, they are estimating another 1,500 are in the works. Without the federal tax incentive, it could be only a handful.