The wind turbine manufacturing industry experienced dramatic declines over the past five years due to uncertainties regarding the federal government production tax credit (PTC), according to a report from IBISWorld. In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act established incentives for renewable energy development; state governments also implemented favorable clean-energy policies. These policies made wind power more attractive to utilities and independent power generators.
However, industry revenue fell 62.4% in 2013, due to uncertainties regarding the extension of the PTC. On the other hand, the extension of the tax credit to the end of 2013 is anticipated to drive revenue growth 79.1% to $10.2 billion in 2014, as power developers rush to start construction on new wind farms to qualify for the tax credit. Nevertheless, IBISWorld expects the wind turbine manufacturing industry revenue to fall at an annualized rate of 4.8% over the five years to 2014.