Intermittent renewable energy
sources, like wind and solar,
bring customers large
electricity price increases.
The cost of batteries sufficient
to power a city of millions
of people would be the primary
cost of the whole system.
An electrical grid must operate
with 100% reliability every minute
of the year.
A reliable grid requires
a very close match
between power supplied,
and power demanded,
on a minute-by-minute,
and even fraction
of a second, basis.
Wind and solar sources
experience large,
unpredictable,
and often sudden swings
in the power they supply.
There will be calm nights
when no wind or solar
energy is available.
So nearly all pre-existing
fossil fuel capacity
must be maintained
as solar and wind back-up.
No amount of excess capacity
can make a wind/solar system
generate any electricity
on a completely calm night.
As wind/solar capacity goes to
100% , or more, of peak usage,
the capital cost of the system
goes to double or even triple
a fossil-fuel-only system.
The percentage
of maximum electricity
capacity when using renewables
will only average around 30%.
The decrease
of carbon emissions
from the backup
fossil fuel plants
will be much less than 100%,
since they must often be
kept on “spinning reserve”
to be ready to step in
when the wind and sun die.
In California, both the wind
and the sun produce a lot more
power in the summer and fall
than in the winter and spring.
So, to have a 100%
wind / solar system
in California, you'd need
batteries to store power
from April to October,
to be discharged from
November to March.
The total amount
of storage needed
-- 25,000 GWh for a year,
is equal to more than
a full month’s current
rate of usage.
The batteries would cost
$5 trillion, which is more
than the annual GDP
of California.
And the batteries
won't last forever.
Germany leads Europe
in power generation
per capita
from renewables
-- 30% wind and solar.
The cost of energy in Germany
is about 30 cents per kWh.,
triple the cost of electricity,
in the US.
California is a US “leader”
in wind and solar energy
sources.
According to the California
Energy Commission,
in 2016, California got 8.11%
of its electricity supply
from solar energy,
and 9.06% from wind,
for a total of 17.17%
from those two sources.
According to the U.S. Energy
Information Agency, California’s
average electricity price that year
was 14.91 cents per kWh,
50% higher than the U.S. average
of 10.10 cents per kWh.