Nevada's renewable portfolio standard is
damaging the state economy and destroying jobs
By Geoffrey Lawrence
Politicians have long sold the myth that the national and state economies would one day be rescued by "renewable" energy. For years, however, a fundamental problem kept these politicians from achieving their goal of making renewable energy culturally dominant:
Freedom.
Electricity generated by so-called "renewable" sources like solar panels is far more expensive and less reliable than electricity generated through traditional means such as nuclear, coal-fired or natural gas-fired power plants. Confronted with this basic fact, consumers, when given the choice, have chosen not to pay more for electricity generated by solar panels or wind turbines.
Some states operate voluntary "green power" programs that allow individuals to choose to pay a premium in order to receive a portion of their electricity from renewable sources. These programs demonstrate how little enthusiasm the public has for financially supporting the renewable vision.
"Nationally, average participation rates among utility green-pricing programs have remained steady at just more than 1% of customers," observes La Capra Associates, a Boston-based renewable-energy consultancy.
Frustrated that free individuals overwhelmingly choose not to finance their schemes for a renewable-energy future, politicians across the country opted for a different approach: force. Nevada lawmakers, for example, adopted a "renewable portfolio standard" in 1997 — a legal requirement that the state-protected electric-utility monopoly produce or acquire a rising proportion of its energy from renewable sources.
No comments:
Post a Comment