The federal government today will announce a new plan to buy 5 percent of its electricity from wind-generated sources by 2010, the first move in an effort to shift 5 percent of total energy use in the U.S. to wind over the next decade. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson says that wind, which now provides 0.1 percent of the country’s electricity, is the most viable renewable energy technology at present. A federal wind-power tax credit of 1.7 cents per kilowatt-hour expires on June 30; the Clinton administration is seeking to have the credit extended to wind-power projects completed during the next five years.
