Wind Power’s Subsidy Sham: Grumet’s Plea Ignores 40 Years of Unreliability

By Robert Bradley Jr. — June 25, 2025

“It is ironic that Jason Grumet of the American Clean Power Association argues for continued taxpayer subsidies for wind power…. In 1986, a predecessor organization to ACPA, the American Wind Energy Association, testified, ‘The U.S. wind industry has … demonstrated reliability and performance levels that make them very competitive.’ False.” – Tom Pyle, IER (below)

Here they are–the crony capitalists who seek wealth from the political means (special government favor) rather than consumer demand in the market with taxpayers neutral.

The list comes from a recent letter from “clean” energy trade groups, led by Jason Grumet of the American Clean Power Association, to Senator John Thune and Representative Mike Crapo, urging them “to be thoughtful when phasing out clean energy tax credits.”

Advanced Energy United (AEU)
American Clean Power Association (ACP)
American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE)
American Public Power Association (APPA)
Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA)
Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA)
Edison Electric Institute (EEI)
Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA)
Fusion Industry Association (FIA)
Large Public Power Council (LPPC)
National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED)
National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)
National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA)
National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
National Hydropower Association (NHA)
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)
Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)

Of the above “dirty 18,” perhaps the worst is the Edison Electric Institute (EEI). Shame on them. Their position change 16 years ago resulted from one person, the father of electricity cronyism (rent-seeking), James E. “Jim” Rogers (1947–2018). Rogers proudly stated:

I was the first CEO in the electric utility industry to speak about the changes needed in the face of climate change. I’ve long advocated [government energy subsidies] to grow the economy and transition to a low-carbon future…. I was chairman of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) when it changed its position to support federal climate legislation in 2009.

Enron-ex Rogers, in fact, brought Enron/Ken Lay’s crony capitalism model to electricity. Boo. As I wrote six years ago:

Yes, Rogers was making a deal with the devil, but he could claim to be playing defense. But he was hurting the entire fossil fuel industry by playing the political game to start a civil war in the power industry. The Baptists needed this Bootlegger.

Appendix: Grumet vs. Pyle on IRA Subsidies

Jason Grumet of the American Clean Power Association previously earlier this year made his case in a letter in the Wall Street Journal, “Don’t Take the Wind Out of America’s Sails” (January 21, 2025):

Your editorial “Trump Speaks Truth to Wind Power” (Jan. 13) is at odds with the longstanding national imperative to increase domestic energy production. For more than a century, Congress has employed tax policy to encourage all forms of domestic energy production, from hydropower, coal and oil to nuclear energy, natural gas and, most recently, renewable resources.

These incentives take a variety of forms, including subsidized access to federal lands, tax credits for energy production and domestic manufacturing and liability caps in the case of accidents. In a theoretical world governed by macroeconomists, we should all welcome the discussion of an energy system that is free of government subsidies. In the real world, careening energy demand requires that we encourage all forms of American-made power. In addition to reducing costs for consumers and powering America’s digital dominance, the energy sector is an engine for economic growth and employment.

Like oil and gas, the domestic wind industry supports hundreds of thousands of jobs in construction and manufacturing. It also provides investments to local communities through landowner payments and local tax revenues. According to a recent analysis, the incentives criticized in the editorial are returning nearly $3 of economic activity for every dollar of taxpayer investment. President Trump’s call for increasing American energy dominance is the right direction for the country. Retreating to a “some of the above,” strategy that pits the federal government against any aspect of the American energy industry is bad politics and bad policy.

– JASON GRUMET CEO, American Clean Power Association Washington

To which IER president Thomas Pyle responded (not published in the WSJ):

It is ironic that Jason Grumet of the American Clean Power Association argues for continued taxpayer subsidies for wind power. In 1986, a predecessor organization to ACPA, the American Wind Energy Association, testified, “The U.S. wind industry has … demonstrated reliability and performance levels that make them very competitive.” False. Fourteen extensions of the “temporary” Production Tax Credit since 1992 reaffirm the inherent problems of an electricity generation alternative that is dilute, intermittent, and full of unique ecological drawbacks.