Dive Brief:

• Extending the production tax credit for wind power for another five years would cost taxpayers $18.5 billion, according to a study by Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation.
• The study was unveiled Wednesday during a House oversight subcommittee hearing on whether to renew the 21-year-old tax credit, which expires at the end of 2013.
• The wind industry says the credit is crucial to its continued growth, which has seen it expand 30% each year for the past five years.  "In the absence of federal energy policy, the tax code is the de facto energy policy of our country," the American Wind Energy Association says.

Dive Insight: 

Some supporters of the tax credit—mindful of the struggle in January to extend the credit for just one year as part of Congress' budget deal—favor phasing it out over a defined number of years as a compromise with fiscal hawks. The phase-out would give the industry time to develop other financial tools, such as master limited partnerships used widely in the oil, natural gas, coal and real estate industries to attract capital.