TODD SNITCHLER, PRESIDENT & CEO, EPSA, FOR REALCLEARENERGY
September 15, 2022
Wind and solar are useful and mature technologies that, as environmental groups are quick to point out, can outcompete coal and even sometimes natural gas on a cost basis. Putting an additional thumb on the scale in their favor, as the new Inflation Reduction Act does, will further incentivize construction of those resources in service of the energy transition.
But billions of dollars in subsidies for these technologies also distorts the market in wide-reaching ways that have serious impacts for grid reliability.
Renewable resources are mature technologies, relatively cheap to operate once built, and have zero fuel costs. Piling subsidies on top of that means other generators are facing markets with bizarre complications such as negative power prices. That is not only a startling disruption of an efficient market, but it also makes it extremely difficult for unsubsidized resources to stay in operation.
Read more at RealClearEnergy.com
