Udall: Latest Vestas Layoffs A ‘Disconcerting’ Effect of Congress Not Quickly Extending the Wind PTC
Vestas's Latest Layoffs Expected to Affect Its Brighton Blades Facility
Mark Udall said Vestas’s latest round of layoffs, announced today, underlines the real-life effect of Congress failing to quickly extend the wind Production Tax Credit. Udall called on the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives to make extending the wind PTC a top priority when lawmakers return to Washington.
“This latest round of layoffs should underline for lawmakers in Colorado and across the United States the cost of politicizing the wind Production Tax Credit,” Udall said. “My colleagues need to remember that good-paying, American manufacturing jobs are at stake when we fail to give this industry the certainty it needs to make long-term investments in its workers and the United States. We need to redouble our efforts and extend the PTC as soon as possible. Our inaction is hurting Colorado families, ceding our leadership on wind energy to China and jeopardizing our nation’s energy security.”
Udall has been a longtime advocate for extending the wind Production Tax Credit. He has given 19 speeches on the Senate floor, detailing the positive effects of the wind energy industry in states across the country. Since starting his campaign in June, a bipartisan and bicameral group of lawmakers have joined him, including Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).
Udall has visited Vestas’s facilities throughout Colorado and has decried three previously announced rounds of Colorado and North American layoffs.
Last week, Udall joined with Michael Rucker, CEO of Boulder-based juwi Wind, in calling on Congress to extend the wind Production Tax Credit. And earlier this month, Udall spoke with former Gov. Jennifer Granholm about the importance of the PTC and why Congress needs to extend the PTC as soon as lawmakers return to Washington.