We have been told over and over that wind and solar are cheap sources of electricity. If this is true, then our electric bills should be going down. Instead they surged 14% in 2022 alone.
Like so many things concerning the climate, and the energy policy it has spawned, the truth is not what we are being told. Wind and solar make our electric bills go up.
Electric grids can store no power and demand must be met by immediate supply. If not, blackouts and shortages.
Because wind and solar are part-time and undependable, we must pay for full-time sources too. Battery storage would conservatively cost our nation four times GDP or $100 trillion. That just isn’t affordable.
Wind and solar have droughts for extended periods of time when neither is producing any electricity. Europe has experienced 32% drops in wind production for extended periods.
The IPCC predicts wind speeds may drop 10% because of climate change, requiring even more wind turbines. The US has about 80,000 wind towers producing about 9% of our electricity. Do we have enough land and oceans for 500,000 more?
Solar makes little electricity when it’s cloudy, rainy and the first and last hour of the day. And none at night.
To keep the grocery stores and hospitals working we have to pay for nuclear, natural gas (NG) and coal which provided nearly 80% of our electricity in 2022. Wind and solar provided just 14%.
The more part-time electricity we add, the more our grid costs. The more full-time, on demand electricity we take off the grid by closing reliable low-cost coal and NG, the more likely we will have blackouts.
Today's Grid Brief is our weekly look at generation in America's power markets.
— Grid Brief (@GridBrief) January 3, 2024
We've added news items to each market where appropriate.https://t.co/kqV1t47YNQ
Approved ~ FS
