SALEM, Ore. — Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski has asked two state agency heads to quickly review whether Oregon's increasingly expensive incentives for renewable energy companies are necessary, specifically for wind energy.

On Tuesday, he told state Energy Department chief Mark Long and Tim McCabe, director of the Oregon Business Development Department, that he wants the recommendations by month's end.

Lawmakers already have been gearing up to reduce the Business Energy Tax Credits when the Legislature meets in February.

Kulongoski's spokeswoman Anna Richter Taylor says the governor remains a staunch supporter of the incentives as a way to bring jobs and clean power to Oregon, but also thinks they need constant review.

The Oregonian has reported that since 2007, the cost of the energy tax credits has gone from about $10 million a year to an estimated $167 million for the 2009-11 biennium. Estimates for 2011-13 approach a quarter-billion dollars.