By REBECCA SMITH
Congress is beginning to fear
that the Obama administration's push for renewable energy will
produce more jobs in Asia and Europe -- where most wind turbines
and solar panels are made -- than in the U.S.
The proposed remedy is a provision
in the economic-stimulus bill that offers tax breaks to U.S.
producers of the equipment.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D., N.M.),
chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is urging
support for a provision in the Senate version giving a 30% tax
credit to companies that expand or build U.S. manufacturing facilities
geared to renewable energy, clean transportation or electric-system
upgrades.
"Several of us have come
to recognize that we've outsourced the very things we're going
to need to change the nation's energy mix, and this is a way
of encouraging more manufacturing here at home," Mr. Bingaman
said.
The situation highlights a weak
link in U.S. industrial policy: Although tax credits are offered
to those building renewable-energy projects, there are no comparable
incentives for domestic equipment makers. That could undermine
President Barack Obama's goal of fostering job creation through
adoption of renewable-energy and so-called green technologies
-- a key component of his economic-recovery plan.
The renewable-energy tax breaks'
initial cost to the Treasury is capped at $2 billion. The version
of the bill passed by the House of Representatives doesn't contain
the provision, so to become law it would have to be revived during
the House-Senate conference.
Though the U.S. added more wind-generating
capacity -- about 8,300 megawatts -- than any nation last year,
it lags as a producer of wind equipment. Only one American company,
General Electric Co., ranks among the top suppliers of wind turbines
globally.
A recent study by the Renewable
Energy Policy Project in Washington, D.C., found that each megawatt
of wind capacity installed in the U.S. creates 4.85 full-time
jobs, of which 3.4 come from making components -- which is done
mostly outside the U.S. The remainder come from such services
as installation and maintenance.
The U.S.'s renewable-energy sector
has added some significant manufacturing capacity recently. The
American Wind Energy Association said this past week that wind
suppliers expanded or added 55 facilities last year. But that
increase has been outstripped by growth abroad.
American Superconductor Corp.
of Devens, Mass., designs wind turbines and licenses its designs
to other companies, then helps them build manufacturing facilities.
In recent years, it has inked deals with a dozen companies, none
of them American.
One customer, South Korea's Hyundai
Heavy Industries Co., is "specifically targeting the U.S.
market," said Greg Yurek, chief executive of American Semiconductor.
Korea's government said last week it is investing $4.37 billion
to help Korean companies close the technology gap in 15 energy-product
areas including wind, solar and battery technology.
SunPower Corp. of San Jose, Calif.,
assembles solar cells into solar panels in China and the Philippines,
even when the finished product is destined for California, a
state that is spending heavily on renewable power. Julie Blunden,
SunPower's head of government policy, said a 30% tax credit "would
put the U.S. back in play" and might get her firm to build
a U.S. manufacturing campus.
Oerlikon Solar USA, a seller
of plants that make thin-film solar modules, has sold 10 plants
so far but none of the buyers is setting up a plant in the U.S.
