Wind Energy Receives a Boost With Tax Credit Extension - News, Weather and Sports for Sioux City, IA: KCAU-TV.com

Wind Energy Receives a Boost With Tax Credit Extension

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By: Scott Larson
slarson@kcautv.com

The Fiscal Cliff bill recently passed in Congress not only brought the nation back from going over the edge, but it also has some language which will help out local industries. Andrew Kline is just starting his career in the wind industry, celebrating his one year anniversary with Anemometry Specialists in Alta, Iowa. Andrew sells wind and solar equipment, a business that he is passionate about, saying, "I knew what I wanted to do and that was small wind and sales."

Kline and the wind industry in general (which employs approximately 7,000 Iowans according to the Iowa Wind Energy Association) caught a big break when the government extended tax credits for the wind industry as part of the larger Fiscal Cliff bill. Rob Hach, President of Anemometry Specialists, says that without the incentives, there would be tremendous uncertainty and likely layoffs. Hach says, "We were looking at layoffs. Absolutely. We were looking at cutting up to 50% of our staff at one point...but we've done a lot of things to diversify our company."

With the tax credit extension, Rob sees a bright future for an industry that continues to grow more self–sufficient. "We're not putting anything into the atmosphere, we're not putting anything into the ground water, we're not pulling away from our natural resources...away from crop ground to process petroleum or other resources. So wind is plentiful!"

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