The German energy dystopia

Advocates of mandating wind and solar often talk about these electricity generators as if they will usher in a new utopia for us all. For a local example, look no further than House Majority Leader Jamie Long’s recent piece in the Star Tribune. Long writes:

“Achieving Minnesota’s renewable electricity and carbon-free electricity standards will drive economic growth and create jobs, improve air quality and health, lower energy prices and enhance grid reliability.”

However, these advocates never talk about the unraveling energy dystopia unfolding in Germany, which used to be their favorite country to compare us to. For the last two years, anyone who is remotely curious and intellectually honest about the German Energiewende, or energy transition, has seen countless stories about the country’s deindustrialization and, now, energy rationing, as Grid Brief writes:

Germany has passed a new piece of legislation mandating energy savings measures across every sector of the economy.

“The new law, called The Energy Efficiency Act, would regulate energy savings in public buildings, industry, and data centers in hopes of reducing energy consumption by 26.5% by 2030 compared to 2008,” reports Oilprice.com. “In August of last year, Germany banned swimming and bathing pool heat, and capped heating above 66F in office buildings, and banned heating in certain public areas. Hot water was turned down for handwashing in restrooms, and monument and advertisement lighting was mostly prohibited.”

According to Oilprice, Germany’s energy consumption fell to its lowest level since 1990 last year, but the country is unlikely to meet its goal of cutting emissions by 35% compared to 1990.

The German government has said it can enforce these energy saving goals without hurting economic growth.

One could argue (correctly) that heating your pool is a frivolous use of energy, but the proponents of wind and solar tell the public that transitioning from our current grid to these “renewable” resources will reduce costs and provide more than enough electricity for everyone, even for frivolous uses.

However, that is not how it works in the real world. As Germany, California, and Texas have shown, a growing reliance on wind and solar necessarily means energy rationing and energy poverty, and this problem will only grow worse if we “electrify everything” by converting home heating from natural gas to electricity.

It is time to start calling out the utopian misinformation being spread by special interest groups, the media, and lawmakers leading us down the same path.

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