Re:Wind and solar are 'fastest-growing electricity sources i...
by vel0city on Monday July 01, 2024 @10:33AM
(#40846195)
> how can all three of these phenomena be true?
Your Utility Drive link hints to the answer. "Transmission costs and volatile fuel prices are the primary drivers of higher power bills, according to Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program."
We're finally paying the piper for the decades of neglect to maintaining the grid in some places, and needing to massively build out new infrastructure in some places as populations move across the country. Some cities around the US have continued to see massive growth while tons of small towns are losing a lot of population, meaning the infrastructure that was good 30+ years ago doesn't work with where people are today. So we're needing to spend a lot more repairing stuff that got put off for decades and rebuilding a large chunk of our grid to face the realities of how our society is today versus a long time ago.
Also, rising fuel costs for when the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining. If fuel costs are outstripping the increase in cheaper per-hour renewable, overall costs still go up in the end. FWIW, most co-ops around me are more expensive than the non-co-op areas.
Your Utility Drive link hints to the answer. "Transmission costs and volatile fuel prices are the primary drivers of higher power bills, according to Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program."
We're finally paying the piper for the decades of neglect to maintaining the grid in some places, and needing to massively build out new infrastructure in some places as populations move across the country. Some cities around the US have continued to see massive growth while tons of small towns are losing a lot of population, meaning the infrastructure that was good 30+ years ago doesn't work with where people are today. So we're needing to spend a lot more repairing stuff that got put off for decades and rebuilding a large chunk of our grid to face the realities of how our society is today versus a long time ago.
Also, rising fuel costs for when the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining. If fuel costs are outstripping the increase in cheaper per-hour renewable, overall costs still go up in the end. FWIW, most co-ops around me are more expensive than the non-co-op areas.