“It’s the most inspirational work that I’m doing…this is an inspirational and aspirational effort…at the heart of it is love of place and energy democracy.” Citizens of Santa Fe, NM, are exploring the economic and environmental benefits of more local and locally-controlled energy production. Is their city ready to take the lead? Find out in this … Read More
As renewable energy grows, the grid needs to grow more flexible to accommodate variations in the wind and sun. This video explains the limitations of “baseload” nuclear and coal power plants to work alongside large amounts of clean power.… Read More
Dear Mayor Bloomberg, Recently, you generously gave over $50 million to the Sierra Club to work on reducing the use of coal for energy based on environmental concerns. At the same you have announced a policy of building garbage incinerators in NYC. There is a contradiction here, as burning garbage pollutes far more than burning coal. … Read More
As Americans transition their electricity system to the 21st century, they should ask this question. Does it make sense to pursue strategies such as accelerating the development of new high-voltage power lines that reinforce an outdated paradigm of electricity delivery, or should scarce energy dollars be spent to add new clean, local energy to the grid … Read More
This story on Sunday suggests that utilities are pulling back from investments in renewable energy over concerns about the cost.
Invenergy…had a contract to sell [wind] power to a utility in Virginia, but state regulators rejected the deal, citing the recession and the lower prices of natural gas and other fossil fuels.
“The ratepayers of Virginia must be protected from costs for renewable energy that are unreasonably high,” the regulators said. Wind power would have increased the monthly bill of a typical residential customer by 0.2 percent.
Based on what price forecast? The following chart illustrates the complexity of relying on fossil fuel prices when making decisions about renewable energy. Note that wind and solar prices are relatively stable (i.e. zero).
The chart does a good job of showing the futility of predicting natural gas prices, but the timeline smooths out coal price changes, particularly by region. Here’s a closer look at coal prices since 2007, courtesy of the federal EIA:
Utilities that are making shortsighted decisions about renewables based on current fossil fuel price trajectories are going to get burned, and so are their ratepayers.
