“The idea behind the birth of Economics of Energy and Environmental Policy seemed like a good one. A journal concentrating on policy issues. No equations. However, from the very first issue I could see that something was wrong…. [I]n the area of renewable energy, EEEP did not fulfill the function of encouraging open debate.”
I am Jim Plummer, the 74 year old founder of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE). In 1977, I had just moved from the federal government (EPA and then the Executive Office of the President under Gerald Ford) to Occidental Petroleum. I observed that there were very competent energy economists in the private sector, public sector, and academia, but there wasn’t a lot of communication among them.
So, I founded the IAEE, and was its second president.…
Continue Reading“Clearly, the interpretation of what constitutes ‘begin construction’ is important. Yet at no time during the two years since the PTC was extended with this wording did the IRS bother to seek public comment under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the federal statute that requires federal agencies to provide notice and an opportunity to comment before promulgating rules.”
When Congress extended the wind energy production tax credit (PTC) at the beginning of 2013 , it relaxed the terms upon which developers could qualify for the credit by requiring projects “begin construction” by the end of 2013, the expiration date of the PTC. The IRS released guidance a few months later defining what it meant to begin construction.
Similar to the Section 1603 Program, the IRS provided two methods for determining when construction began.…
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