(a) The Congress finds that—

(1) the United States is faced with a finite and diminishing resource base of native fossil fuels and, as a consequence, must develop as quickly as possible a diversified, pluralistic national energy capability and posture;

(2) the current imbalance between supply and demand for fuels and energy in the United States is likely to grow for many years;

(3) it is in the Nation's interest to provide opportunities for the increased production of electricity from renewable energy sources;

(4) the early wide-spread utilization of wind energy for the generation of electricity and for mechanical power could lead to relief on the demand for existing non-renewable fuel and energy supplies;

(5) the use of large wind energy systems for certain limited applications is already economically feasible;

(6) the use of small wind energy systems for certain applications is already economically feasible, and therefore, the Federal Government should not undertake any financial incentive or financial initiative which may detrimentally affect commercial markets for small wind energy systems;

(7) an aggressive research, development and demonstration program to accelerate widespread utilization of wind energy should solve existing technical problems of converting wind energy into electricity and mechanical energy and, supported by an assured and growing market for wind energy systems during the next decade, should maximize the future contribution of wind energy to the Nation's future energy production;

(8) it is the proper and appropriate role of the Federal Government to undertake research and development, to participate in demonstration programs for wind energy systems, and to assist private industry, other entities, and the general public in hastening the widespread utilization of such systems;

(9) the widespread use of wind energy systems to supplement and replace conventional methods for the generation of electricity and mechanical power would have a beneficial effect upon the environment;

(10) the evaluation of the performance and reliability of wind energy technologies can be expedited by the testing of prototypes under carefully controlled conditions;

(11) innovation and creativity in the development of components and systems for converting wind energy into electricity and mechanical energy can be fostered through encouraging direct contact between the manufacturers of such components and systems and utilities and other persons interested in utilizing such components and systems; and

(12) consistent with the findings of the Domestic Policy Review on Solar Energy, wind energy can potentially contribute 1.7 quads of energy per year by the year 2000.

(b) It is declared to be the policy of the United States and the purpose of this chapter to establish during the next eight years an aggressive research, development, demonstration, and technology applications program for converting wind energy into electricity and mechanical energy. It is declared to be the further policy of the United States and the purpose of this chapter that the objectives of such program are—

(1) to reduce the average cost of electricity produced by installed wind energy systems, by the end of fiscal year 1988, to a level competitive with conventional energy sources;

(2) to reach a total megawatt capacity in the United States from wind energy systems, by the end of fiscal year 1988, of at least eight hundred megawatts, of which at least one hundred megawatts are provided by small wind energy systems; and

(3) to accelerate the growth of a commercially viable and competitive industry to make wind energy systems available to the general public as an option in order to reduce national consumption of fossil fuel.