The fossil fuel-funded American Energy Alliance wrote a coalition letter signed by 20 organizations to Congress claiming widespread support for "The PTC Elimination Act", which would cut subsidies for wind energy production. The letter uses misinformation to claim that wind energy is bad for the economy and is more expensive than traditional fossil fuel energy production. Wind energy power purchase agreements continue to break records as the cost of clean energy has plummeted over the past few years. The price of wind is down more than 50 percent since 2009 and contracted ind prices hit an all-time low in 2014 of ~2.35 cents per kWh.
The Energy and Policy Institute examined the list of signatories and found the following:
- 18 of the signatories signed a similar letter written by the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity in June 2014 (counting Independent Women’s Forum & Voice as one affiliated organization).
- 14 have ties to fossil fuel funders and 18 have ties to the Koch Brothers’ political network with some organizations receiving funding directly from the Kochs and others receiving funding from the "dark money ATM" Donors Trust/Donors Capital Fund or other front groups like the "Center to Protect Patients Rights”.
Elected officials and the public should make note that while these groups claim to be “free market” think tanks and non-profits, in reality, they are operating as front groups for the Koch Brothers and other fossil fuel interests with a financial interest in stoping the wind production tax credit (PTC).
See our breakdown below: