Wind and solar power
are expensive sources
of energy.
They require up to 100%
fossil fuel back up power,
large quantities of land,
and new transmission
lines to enter the electric grid.
States and the federal
government have forced
their construction,
and operation, using
mandates and subsidies.
Without those mandates
and subsidies, electricity
prices would be lower
for consumers
and businesses.
United States'
businesses
would become
a more competitive
producers of goods
and services.
The Institute for
Energy Research
( IER )
and the American Coalition
for Clean Coal Electricity
( ACCCE )
released a report that finds
building new electrical generating
facilities to replace good existing
plants, ahead of their optimal
retirement time, increases
electricity prices to consumers.
https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IER_LCOE2019Final-.pdf
https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IER_LCOE2019Final-.pdf
Consumers must pay
for construction costs
for new plants, while
construction costs
are often paid off
for existing plants.
States with renewable
energy standards are
forcing existing generators
to retire by requiring new
wind and solar power.
As more new capacity
is added to the grid,
the existing generating
capacity is forced
to produce less,
or retire prematurely.
A fossil fuel plant
targeted for closure
may have a
remaining loan balance
that must be paid.
A Wisconsin coal plant
to be closed,
the 1,210-megawatt
Pleasant Prairie
coal plant, is idle,
and will remain closed
until the remaining balance
on the plant is repaid.
That cost will approach
$1 billion over the
next two decades.
The IER and ACCCE Report
calculated the "levelized"
cost of electricity (LCOE)
for existing generating units,
and compared those costs
to the Energy Information
Administration’s (EIA’s)
most recent estimates
of levelized costs
for new plants,
adjusted for today’s
fuel prices and
utilization rates
( capacity factors ).
EIA defines LCOE as
“the per-megawatt-hour cost
( in real dollars ) of building
and operating a generating plant
over an assumed financial life,
and duty cycle.”
Existing power plants have
lower fixed costs, and similar
variable costs, compared to
their most likely replacements.
New power plants
begin their lives
with a full burden of
construction cost
to be recovered.
The most cost-effective
generating option
is NOT to replace
existing resources.
PRICES
In Germany,
renewables contributed
to electricity prices
increasing by 50%.
Residential electricity
prices in Germany
are 3 times higher
than in the U.S.
Germany spent
$36 billion per year
on renewables
over the last 5years,
increasing the
share of electricity
from solar and wind power
by just 10 percentage points.
In California,
retail electricity prices
are 50 percent higher than
the U.S. national average.
California requires
retail sellers and
publicly owned utilities
to procure 50% of their
electricity from
eligible renewable
energy resources,
by 2030.
The unreliability
of solar and wind power,
required California
to PAY
neighboring states
to take their solar
and wind energy,
when producing
too much of it !