Siemens to cut wind power jobs in US Siemens is set to cut more than 600 wind power jobs in the US in response to regulatory uncertainty over the future of wind tax credits that has buffeted the renewables industry and threatens thousands of jobs. The German industrial conglomerate will cut more than 400 jobs at a rotor blade plant in Fort Madison, Iowa, as well as employees at plants in Kansas and Florida. The job cuts account for more than a third of Siemens" 1,650 US wind employees. The company pointed to the trend towards natural gas power generation prompted by US shale gas extraction and the weak economic recovery. But it also pinned the blame on the uncertain future of the tax credits for new wind turbine installations. IN Industrial Goods These tax credits triggered a boom in wind turbine production over the past couple of years. However, the subsidies are due to expire at the end of the year and many customers therefore brought forward orders to beat the deadline. "Following the rapid ramp-up of the wind power industry over the past five years, the industry is facing a significant drop in new orders, and this has an unfortunate consequence on employment in this segment of the power industry," Siemens said. Local politicians blamed Congress for holding up a renewal of the tax credit. Siemens is one of a host of US-based wind companies that have begun laying off workers in response to the possible subsidy withdrawal. Vestas, the world's largest wind turbine maker by sales, said last month it planned to cut a further 1,400 jobs of which about 20 per cent will be in the Americas. Vestas's finance director told the Financial Times that the US wind industry was facing a "lost year" because of the uncertainty around the renewal of subsidies. The American Wind Energy Association has warned that 37,000 US jobs - in turbine factories, construction companies and support services - will go if the tax credit is not renewed. The job cuts are particularly unfortunate for Siemens as it has won considerable political capital in the US of late by creating jobs and paying for unemployed workers to retrain. The company has invested $100m over the past five years in building its US wind power production facilities. Siemens" reputation in the US was previously undermined by the Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation in 2008 into bribery of officials overseas. President Barack Obama visited the Iowa plant in 2010 to champion clean technology and the impact of the government's economic stimulus. He also paid tribute to Siemens in his State of the Union address. The company said the job cuts were unrelated to a cost-cutting programme recently announced by Peter Löscher, chief executive, in response to a tougher market environment that has made Siemens" full-year profit targets harder to meet. The details of the plan are due in November.