Renewable Energy Will Always be Under a Political Cloud

Sometimes I have to laugh when I read an article or a op-ed that is written by a libtard.  I swear it is audacity of the incredulous and nothing demonstrates this more than renewable energy.  A headline by the New York Times says it all: Even as wind power rises, it falls under a political cloud.

Really? Do you think?!  Anytime a government entity forces its citizens to subsidize an industry or mandates its use, it will become a political issue.  This should be common sense; however, progressives don’t think this way.  They believe in the supremacy of their beliefs and to hell with yours.  Can anyone say Obamacare?

What is amazing is how liberals can accuse the opposition of ideology without recognizing their own biases.  This excerpt from the aforementioned article is a perfect example:

The study has been praised by trade groups representing the nuclear and coal industries. But it is being conducted without including many of those potentially affected. And clean-energy executives and advocates, as well as some lawmakers, have expressed concern that it will be grounded more in ideology than in evidence.

A group of trade organizations representing clean-energy interests delivered analyses to the department in mid-May arguing that renewables do not threaten grid reliability and that subsidies are not to blame for the economic troubles of coal and nuclear plants.

I’m sorry, but forcing the American people to subsidize inefficient energy schemes while over-regulating proven energy sources is a threat to grid reliability.  Even the author of this article concedes renewable energies can’t exist without subsidies.

Energy experts say that without the credit and other favorable subsidies, mandates and market policies in place, wind development and production will be threatened. When the credit has periodically expired, installations nearly ground to a halt — dropping by roughly 76 to 93 percent, according to an analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists — only to resume again with its renewal. Congressional estimates put the cost of the credit at $3.1 billion last year, and the figure is expected to reach $4 billion this year.

“There’s no question: if the P.T.C. goes away, that’s a big number,” said Robert F. Shapiro, a lawyer at Chadbourne & Parke in Washington, who focuses on project finance and energy. “New plants would have to meet a tougher test, a market-price test, that can’t be masked in part by that subsidy.”

You’re damn right renewable energy is under a political cloud and will continue to be as long as the federal government forces it upon us.

  

Source:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/30/business/energy-environment/wind-power-base-load.html?_r=0

NC Forum Declares Wind Farms Costly and Inefficient

Carolina Journal reported on a renewable energy forum sponsored by the John Locke Foundation. Economist and scientist discussed the cost, efficacy, and environmental value of wind power. Their conclusions are in stark contrast to the assertions of clean energy proponents. John Droz, a fellow of the American Tradition Institute, stated the following:

“Because of the wide fluctuations of wind, it typically produces less than 30 percent of its nameplate capacity,” Droz said. “This problem is made worse by the fact that there is no practical or economical way to store the electricity produced.”

It’s not reliable or predictable and cannot be counted on to provide power on demand, he said.
Wind power plants aren’t compact either, he added. They cover more than 1,000 times the surface area of a conventional facility.

Most importantly to Droz, wind power is not economical. The cost of running a wind power plant is higher than any other type of plant.

“The more wind power an energy company uses, the higher the consumer’s electric bill,” he said.“Denmark, which uses more wind power than any country in the world, has the highest cost of electricity of any country in the world. Their residential electricity rate is more than three times as much as ours.”

Finally, wind does not make a consequential reduction in carbon emissions, said Droz. “No scientific study has ever proven that wind power saves a meaningful amount of CO2. A National Academy of Sciences study says U.S. CO2 savings by 2020 will be at about 1.8 percent."

North Carolinians had an opportunity to voluntarily add renewable energy sources to the grid; it was roundly rejected. But that didn’t stop Governor Beverly Perdue and the democratically controlled General Assembly. In 2007, they passed a law called Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards, which mandated power companies employ 7.5% renewable energy sources. This arrogant piece of legislation will cost consumers millions of dollars.

Governor Beverly Perdue and her fellow democrats profess that they’re looking out for the middle-class, when in fact they’re outright hostile. And in this economic environment, no one can afford higher utility bills.

Source: http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=8597

Governor Beverly Perdue Strong-Arms N.C. Energy Companies

Governor Beverly Perdue is about as shameless as her counterpart in the Oval Office. She has been caught bullying North Carolina’s three major energy companies into signing long-term contracts with a wind farm company. The three are resisting this pressure due to the fact that these farms are inefficient, and cost more than conventional sources of energy. That cost would be passed onto the consumer. But that is unimportant to the Governor, what is at stake is a $200 million federal government grant; and Bev just loves that “free money”.

Documents obtained by the Civitas Institute suggest Gov. Bev Perdue is attempting to strong-arm North Carolina’s three major utility companies into supplying more expensive energy to their customers in the northeastern part of the state. In a political power-play to reward big business reminiscent of the handling of the Solyndra debacle that embarrassed the Obama administration, Perdue is urging for special treatment that would secure a $200 million federal government subsidy for a multi-billion dollar Spanish company.

Perdue recently sent a letter to the heads of Duke, Dominion, and Progress Energy stressing the importance of the proposed Desert Wind Power Project in Elizabeth City to be built by Iberdrola Renewables (to see copies of the letters, click the links below). The Project involves the development of a 300 megawatt wind energy farm. In her letter, Perdue stated: “I urge you to give serious consideration to partnering with Iberdrola Renewables to make the Project a reality.” Perdue also added that it is urgent that a major utility provider agree to purchase power from the wind farm in order for it to be a “long-term success.”

Small problem: North Carolina’s major utility companies already said no to purchasing electricity from the wind power project because the rates Iberdrola were demanding are so much more expensive than the conventional energy currently being used by the utilities. As quoted in a recent Raleigh News & Observer article, Duke spokeswoman Betsy Alley Conway said, “What we are looking for is wind energy at a price that is cost-effective for the company and our customers. If we receive a proposal from developers that is a good value for our customers and our company, we would execute the contract.”

USA Today reported the following household energy cost:

Households paid a record $1,419 on average for electricity in 2010, the fifth consecutive yearly increase above the inflation rate, a USA TODAY analysis of government data found. The jump has added about $300 a year to what households pay for electricity. That's the largest sustained increase since a run-up in electricity prices during the 1970s.

Electricty is consuming a greater share of Americans' after-tax income than at any time since 1996 — about $1.50 of every $100 in income at a time when income growth has stagnated, a USA TODAY analysis of Bureau of Economic Analysis data found.

Even though Obama wasn’t able to pass cap and trade, his bureaucratic machine has found ways to punish us all. And it sure as hell doesn’t help, when our state politicians pile on with unnecessary, inefficient sources of energy that isn’t cost effective.

Source:

http://www.nccivitas.org/2011/perdue-bringing-solyndra-politics-to-north-carolina/

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/story/2011-12-13/electric-bills/51840042/1

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/electricity-costs-skyrocket-300-more-per-household-over-last-5-years/