“After a dozen extensions and nearly three decades on the books, it’s time to end the Production Tax Credit….”

Thirteen extensions of a 1992 tax credit for a supposedly infant industry in need of start-up aid. A subsidy has risen with inflation and become more lucrative with new technological design.

Little wonder that wind power can be “predatory” by under-pricing conventional electrical generation that does not get the subsidy. As in negative, zero, or small-positive prices. Little wonder that firm, dependable power sources are leaving the market–or require a corrective subsidy to continue to compete (a second wrong).

It’s a racket. And so 41 free market groups have aligned to urge the U.S. Senate to end the racket. The full letter, organized by the American Energy Alliance, follows.…

“First of all, I make it clear, I do not propose banning fracking.”

“My deal is a crucial framework, but not the new green deal.”

– Joe Biden. Town Hall, October 15, 2020.

Biden shifts and weaves looking for the middle ground on hydraulic fractionation, a drilling technique that has solidified the role of oil and gas in the 21st century. And he dodges the Green New Deal, or what he stated as the ‘New Green Deal’. (Joe?)

The radical Left (Andrew Dessler here) has largely given Biden/Harris a pass on the Frack Shuffle, but privately the hard Left must be fuming between the ears right now…. Politically, as economically, it’s a fossil fuel world!

For when it comes to climate, there is no political path that can arrest what is seen as global destruction, what shifty Joe himself calls “an existential threat.”…

“No fracking, no fracking, no fracking. All of a sudden [Biden] gets a nomination, he says, ‘There’s got to be fracking.’ For Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Texas, North Dakota … your energy jobs are gone if they get in. Just remember I said it.”

– Donald Trump, “Donald Trump White House Rally Speech Transcript October 10: First Event Since COVID Diagnosis.”

Consistency applies to Donald Trump and his energy positions unlike his rival. As such, the American Energy Alliance, the advocacy arm of the Institute for Energy Research, has endorsed Trump for reelection.

But there are disappointments and room for improvement with Trump energy policy. Ethanol’s continuing grip on the transportation market continues under his watch. Protectionism that reaches the energy industry (steel pipe for pipelines, for example), should be relaxed.…

Given the obvious harm caused by the renewable energy industry’s pricing practices on grid reliability, not to mention other competitors, can regulators find predatory pricing in violation of antitrust law?

Politically correct renewables have become the energy de jour of many politicians, regulators, environmental groups, and members of the public. As such, there is little political will to take on the renewable energy industry. Antitrust regulators have long demonstrated great selectiveness in what companies they target for enforcement of potential violations.

Perhaps the most important reason can be garnered from the Federal Trade Commission’s explanation of predatory pricing:

Can prices ever be “too low?” The short answer is yes, but not very often. Generally, low prices benefit consumers. Consumers are harmed only if below-cost pricing allows a dominant competitor to knock its rivals out of the market and then raise prices to above-market levels for a substantial time.