South Dakota has at least one constant: wind.

It can pack a punch no matter the season with a drying spring wind that allows farmers to head to the fields, a summer blast of hot air that does little to cool us, fall winds that strip a tree naked in a day and howling winds of winter that ignite a blizzard or just make our homes feel more drafty.

Those breezes blow enough for our state to rank fifth in the nation in potential for wind energy development.

But a tax credit that is crucial to the wind energy industry expires at the end of the year with nothing yet to replace it. That leaves an uncertainty in the industry — an unknown that slows any wind development. This year, zero megawatts of new wind power have gone online in the state.

The tax credit waits for a lame-duck Congress to make it a priority and fund the Production Tax Credit. South Dakota’s congressional delegation approves extending the tax credit, but has work to do, and faces budget challenges when it comes to any subsidy.

It’s a pricey expense at an estimated $5 billion for one year, but it also generates private investments that far exceed that amount.

It’s time for lawmakers to work together to help get approval for the tax credit and put aside potential political differences to help an industry that has growth potential in a state where the wind rarely stops blowing.

We can’t change the wind, but we can change the direction of wind development by extending the tax credit, at least temporarily, to help the industry continue to develop this renewable energy source.

— Sioux Falls (S.D.) Argus Leader