A tax-incentive program for wind farms is costing Texas taxpayers almost $1.6 million per job created, according to a report issued by Texas Comptroller Susan combs.

The Austin American Statesman reports that the tax breaks compare poorly with results from similar programs:

The tax breaks awarded to 63 wind farms averaged almost $1.6 million per job, compared with $166,188 for manufacturing projects and $51,249 for research and development, according to the report.

The cost per job is 40 times what the state spends on projects that win grants from the Texas Enterprise Fund, which the governor uses to attract companies and jobs.

This shouldn’t surprise anyone. As the Wall Street Journal points out:

The wind industry claims to employ 85,000 Americans. Thats almost certainly an exaggeration, but if it is true it compares with roughly 140,000 miners and others directly employed by the coal industry. Wind accounts for a little more than 1% of electricity generation and coal almost 50%. So it takes at least 25 times more workers to produce a kilowatt of electricity from wind as from coal.

The WSJ goes on to say, “Given this level of inefficiency, its no wonder that wind and solar energy require at least 20 times more in government subsidies per unit of electricity generated than the average for coal and natural gas, according to a 2007 study by the Energy Information Administration.”

As inefficient as wind is, solar is even worse. But that isn’t stopping the Texas Public Utility Commission from pushing forward with more subsidies for solar and biomass. The PUC last week voted to publish a proposed rule that would require the state to subsidize 500 megawatts of non-wind renewable energy, i.e., solar-generated electricity.

The Texas Energy Report wrote that despite acknowledging “that boosting solar, biomass and such will likely require ratepayer subsidies, which would undercut the relatively low prices of electricity brought about by very low natural gas prices,” the PUC moved ahead with the proposal on a 2-1 vote.

As the WSJ so aptly puts it, “Talk about throwing good money after bad. Despite more than $30 billion in subsidies for clean energy in the 2009 stimulus bill, Big Wind still cant make it in the marketplace.”

And neither can solar. If it wants to help keep electricity prices affordable for Texans, the PUC should abandon its plan to subsidize solar and biomass, and the Texas Legislature should eliminate the renewable portfolio standard and its subsidies for all renewable energy.

-Bill Peacock