The Astonishingly Good News on Renewable Energy

March 2018 - XCel Energy, a Colorado utility, recently explored alternatives to running its dirty coal-fired electricity plants and requested bids, including for wind and solar produced energy with battery storage (for when there's no sun and no wind). They received hundreds of bids at amazingly low prices. For example, wind plus battery storage came in at a median of 2.1 cents per kWh, and solar plus storage at 3.6 cents per kWh. By way of contrast, the current overall residential US average is 12 cents per kWh. 

The price of renewables will vary depending on the local wind and solar energy resource, but overall, renewables look to be cheaper than fossil fuel systems. Lazard Ltd., a global energy financial analyst, recently issued its 2017 report stating that in many regions of North America, the full life-cycle cost of building and operating renewables-plus-battery systems is cheaper than merely continuing to operate the already existing coal and nuclear plants! In developing countries, the advantages of renewables are assessed to be even greater.

ACTION:  Contact the Governor of your State. Urge him or her to look into renewables-plus-storage options because this could well result in lower electricity prices, cleaner air, much lower greenhouse gas emissions, less danger of nuclear disasters, and a huge increase in well-paying local jobs. All this at no cost to the government! Sounds like a winner all around.

CONTACT: The Governor of your state

Web: usa.gov/state-governor and then follow directions for mail, email, or telephone

Mail: Your Governor’s name, Capitol Building, name of your capitol city, State, zip code

Multiply this Message: Use this information to write a letter to the editor about this important & timely issue. This is a powerful way to educate and mobilize others—our job in the coming years!