When the government began subsidizing wind and solar power in the 1990s with billions of taxpayer dollars, the public was told this costly government help would only be needed for a short time, until the nascent technologies (which weren’t in fact new at all) could compete on a level playing field with conventional energy sources.
Nearly 30 years later,
wind and
solar are being subsidized more than ever, and they still aren’t close to being affordable and reliable.
Over the past decades, I’ve seen hundreds of and claiming solar and
wind power are cheaper than conventional sources of electric power. One recent story went so far as to claim that Europe’s true electric power problem is not high prices, intermittency, or blackouts, but that electric power generation is . The latter claim boggles the mind because data clearly show the , are significantly higher than the United States or most of the world. High power prices and lack of reliability are among the top reasons cited by companies for across the EU and expanding elsewhere.
In the United States, the mainstream , , and some have put out a torrent of stories and statements claiming President Donald
Trump’s energy policies, primarily the ending of government support for wind and solar in the “Big Beautiful Bill” he supports, and the reinvestment in traditional sources of electric power will result in higher
prices for American homes and businesses.
They say this despite ample research showing that when an apples to apples comparison is conducted of the cost of building and nuclear power plants versus new wind and solar, including all of the hidden variables, like subsidies, additional transmission lines, and backup, solar energy is 10 times more expensive than natural gas and more than four times more expensive than coal. Wind is cheaper than solar but comes in at nearly six times more expensive than natural gas and three times more expensive than coal.
When one looks at the states with the highest or fastest-rising electric prices, show states that remain largely dependent upon coal or hydropower have among the lowest residential, commercial, and industrial electric power rates in the nation. By contrast, states with rising renewable
energy mandates and large subsidies have the most expensive and fastest-climbing energy costs.
My experience in Texas is illustrative. Not that long ago, the Lone Star State relied primarily upon coal generation, natural gas, and some nuclear power. Texas has abundant coal and natural gas, which was reflected in our rates. Honestly, there was no need to switch to wind and solar. We had the cheapest electric power rates in our region, and they started falling after deregulation.
Still, over the years, state and federal government officials discriminated against fossil fuels in favor of highly subsidized renewable energy. As wind and solar was added to the grid, our electric rates began to skyrocket, and our grid became less reliable, to the extent that now has the most expensive power in the region costs in the nation.
More proof that wind and solar power can’t compete with traditional sources of power or survive without generous government support is found in the history of the production tax credit.
The PTC, first offered in 1992, was supposed to lapse in 1999, giving the wind and solar industries a hand to compete with existing energy sources. It has been extended more than 10 times. Every time it was , even for short periods, wind and solar factories were planning and permitting shut down, mere hours after the lapse. One study described the impact of waxing and waning PTC on the green energy industry as creating “a boom-and-bust cycle that followed the lapses and extensions of the tax credit ….” Not a cycle, mind you, tied to a business cycle or the demand for energy. And that’s just one form of federal support. Pull out this one tax subsidy, and the entire industry collapses.
More recently, as President
Trump’s energy policies threaten to block new green funding and claw back previously approved funds, to keep the subsidies in place.
Right now, wind and solar projects and plans across the country, despite the fact that
Trump’s policies haven’t even been fully . The mere threat of the end of government subsidies is enough to cancel projects.
That’s how susceptible the “competitive” green electric power industry is to a freeze in government support. Regulations or unfair competition from subsidized renewables may close gas, coal, hydro, or nuclear power plants, but normal operating costs don’t; they can stand on their own absent federal and state interference. The same simply can’t be said for wind and solar.
to believe that industrial wind and solar power will become cost-efficient soon. Thus, it is time to end continued support for these disruptive, junk sources of power. If Congress puts average Americans first, the budget bill currently being hammered out presents an excellent opportunity to commence the beginning of the end for taxpayer money being wasted propping up expensive, unreliable, and environmentally unfriendly wind and solar power.
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