State taxes on wind

Provisions in some "red" states to require super-majority votes by state legislatures before taxes can be increased are serving as an impediment to imposing taxes on wind farms.

Wyoming imposes a tax of $1 a megawatt hour on electricity generated from wind.

State Senator Cale Case (R) has been trying to increase the tax to $5 a megawatt hour. Case failed in an effort to advance his proposal in the Joint Revenue Committee in December. He plans to try again next year, but acknowledged the difficulty getting the proposal through the legislature, which requires a two-thirds vote to increase taxes. Case said he is looking at a ballot initiative as an alternate route.