Noem to visit Mitchell today

• Kristi Noem

Rep. Kristi Noem

Talk about it

Rep. Kristi Noem will be in Mitchell today to discuss production tax credits for the wind power industry.

South Dakota’s lone member of the House will host a roundtable discussion on wind and tour Mitchell Technical Institute. The roundtable is set for 2 p.m. at the MTI Campus Center, room 146, 1800 E. Spruce St.

MTI began a wind turbine technology program in the fall of 2009. The upcoming semester is expected to have 42 first-year and 29 secondyear students enrolled.

The production tax credit for wind energy was first established in 1992 to encourage investment in renewable wind energy, and South Dakota has benefitted. South Dakota became the first state in the U.S. to generate more than 20 percent of its electricity from wind.

On this issue, Noem, a freshman Republican, agrees with President Obama, who favors extending the tax credit.

Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney has called for ending it.

Both South Dakota senators, Democrat Tim Johnson and Republican John Thune, also want to see the tax credit extended. The PTC for wind energy is scheduled to expire Dec. 31.

Last week, the Senate Finance Committee passed a bill that called for extending the tax credit. But the bill is stalled now, with Congress on a five-week break.

The impending expiration is already causing a slowdown in the industry, according to MTI President Greg Von Wald, who is vice president of the South Dakota Wind Energy Association.

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