Wind, Oil, Electric Car Tax Breaks Left in Tax Reform Bill

What kind of energy tax breaks were left in the tax plan unveiled last week by the U.S. Senate?

They range from electric cars to wind to drilling for oil.

A review of the bill shows Republican writers left an accelerated deduction of “intangible drilling costs” in the bill that has gone before the Senate Finance Committee.

Still in place is a production tax credit for wind energy, different than the bill in the House. The House bill would reduce the value of the credit by more than a third and also make it more difficult for firms to get the credit for wind farms still under construction.

The Senate bill will allow the subsidy which provides a $23 a megawatt-hour credit but it will phase down and expire in 2020.

In an interview after the revealing of the tax reform measure, South Dakota Senator John Thune said, “Wind’s okay. We think that’s kind of settled now.”

The measure in the U.S. Senate also includes a $7,500 tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases, a move that’s helped Tesla and GM.