A Wyoming legislative committee soundly defeated a bill that would have substantially increased the state’s wind tax. 

The bill, which was supported by House Revenue Committee Chairman Mike Madden and others, would have raised Wyoming’s wind tax from a dollar a megawatt hour to five dollars a megawatt hour. 

Wyoming is currently the only state that taxes wind and companies say that the tax would keep them from operating wind farms in the state.  Carbon County Economic Development Director Cindy Wallace says a wind tax could shut down two important wind projects that will help their local economy.

“It’s very frustrating to keep seeing something like this come up, especially something that is trying to thwart a business wanting to come in.”

Wallace says the wind projects in Carbon County will already mean hundreds of millions of dollars in sales and property tax revenue in her county.  The committee defeated the tax hike on a 7 to 2 vote.