In his fiscal year 2016 budget proposal, President Obama wants to make the major wind subsidy (the production tax credit or PTC as it is commonly called) permanent.(i] For the past 23 years, the American taxpayer has subsidized wind power to the tune of tens of billions of dollars without seeing any major contribution to U.S. energy supply. In 2014, wind energy supplied less than 2 percent of total U.S. energy needs and less than 5 percent of U.S. electric power needs. That, however, has not changed the federal government from wanting wind energy to contribute 20 percent of U.S. electricity supply by 2030. That would require more than a 15 percentage point increase in just 15 years.
