The organization makes a few other important points: improved transmission capacity, which it argues for, would allow grid operators a way to find a home for cheap electricity; consumers benefit from lower prices as marginally cheaper wind displaces fossil fuel-generated power; and, finally, “Fossil and nuclear energy resources are also incentivized, including sizeable taxpayer payments written into the permanent tax code and the omission of pollution costs from their price.”

Dresden nuclear plant, Illinois (image via Exelon)

While Exelon and the AWEA fight it out over that, few signs are emerging that Congress will take up the PTC before the election. For Katana Summit, that will very likely mean its demise. Workers are finishing up some projects now, the company said, but with no new orders on the horizon, layoffs will commence once the current work dries up.

“Despite support from both parties, it seems that the PTC extension has become a political football in an election year and jobs are being lost because of it,” Kevin Strudthoff,

President/CEO of the company, said in a statement. “I hope we can find a buyer to keep these plants operating but unless government policy for renewable energy becomes more stable I’m afraid we’ll see more closures and job losses in the industry into 2013.”

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