ABSTRACT
Wind energy is on the rise in the United States. Wind power generating increased by more than 50 per cent in 2007 and was expected to increase at nearly the same rate in 2008. This is a surprising development, since the promotion of renewable energies in the United States is hardly an example of active government intervention (see Tänzler 2006; Calvert and Hock 2001). The national energy strategy of 2001, for example, remains more or less silent about the potential of renewable energies to contribute to the future energy supply of the country. The legislative proposals that were introduced in the Congress have, so far, been rejected. Hence, at the national level, the instrument of production tax credits (PTC) is perceived as the only driver behind the recent increase of wind-power installations. In addition, renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) exist in more than twenty states. As a policy tool, RPSs mandate electricity suppliers to provide a certain proportion of their electricity through renewable energy sources by a stated date.
