ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 continues the examination of business actors, though in this chapter the focus is on business actors in the renewable energy sector. Of all the renewable sources that are commercially viable today, wind and solar have the greatest potential to transform the energy sector. In the US, wind and solar power have surged in recent years precipitating a series of policy contests, particularly with the utility industry, which is directly threatened by the spread of renewable power. Two of the most hotly contested contests have been over the extension of the production tax credit for wind and the investment tax credit for solar. In both cases business actors in the wind industry and the solar industry have been directly engaged, as have other business across the US energy sector.
