Presented by Kath Rowley and Uday Varadarajan

Renewable energy deployment in the United States is booming. Though this growth was financed largely through private investment, state and federal policies have played a key role. As federal lawmakers look for opportunities to reduce the deficit, the cost of extending wind and solar incentives has become a significant issue.

CPI’s analysis shows the federal government could sustain support for wind and solar at much lower cost to taxpayers by replacing current tax credits with cash incentives. For example, a taxable cash incentive for wind energy could deliver the same support to wind projects as current policy and almost halve the cost to taxpayers.