US Allocated $11.5Bln to Renewable Energy With No Info on Power Generated

The US government provided $11.5 billion in tax credits from 2004 to 2013 to encourage renewable energy projects, yet it does not know how much power they generate, a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which enforces the country’s tax laws, is not required to collect project-level data from all taxpayers, the GAO pointed out.

“The Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and the Production Tax Credit (PTC)… supported renewable projects and accounted for $11.5 billion in forgone revenue,” the report, issued on Thursday, said. “However, the total generating capacity they supported is unknown.”

“Without project-level data on the ITC and PTC, Congress cannot evaluate their effectiveness as it considers whether to reauthorize or extend them,” GAO concluded.

The GAO advised Congress to “consider directing IRS to (1) collect and report project-level data from all taxpayers who claim the ITC and (2) collect and report similar data for taxpayers who claim the PTC.”