Renewable energy advocates are seemingly always talking about how advances in technology will *finally* make wind and solar competitive with coal, nuclear, and natural gas without taxpayer subsidies. One of…
In March of 2019, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) released a public “fact sheet” alleging the cost of electricity generated by wind and solar in Minnesota had reached new record lows,…
Data show that, as a share of income, the lowest quintile of income earners spent roughly 7 times that of the highest quintile on utilities. The shift away from coal…
Wind lobbyists are claiming that steel tariffs enacted by the Trump administration are causing such a large increase to the cost of wind that the industry needs more taxpayer money,…
In 2013, Steve Hellman, president of the battery storage company, Eos Energy, made a startling prediction about the cost of the company’s then-new zinc-air battery system. The following is from…
A new study published by the Institute for Energy Research (IER) concluded that building new wind and solar farms is up to 120 percent more expensive per megawatt hour of…
Last week, Korean Electric Power (KEPCO) connected its second advanced pressure reactor (APR) 1400 nuclear reactor to the grid. This is significant because these power plants, with a generation capacity…
The University of Chicago made waves last week by releasing the findings of a working paper that found renewable energy mandates cause electricity prices to rise. This won’t be surprising…
Minnesota and my homeland of Wisconsin are often portrayed as rivals with large differences, but when it comes to solar power, they're both scraping the bottom of the barrel.
On April 20th, the Star Tribune ran a story entitled "Technology, Cost Could Hamper Efforts for 100 Percent Carbon-Free Grid in Minnesota by 2050." It was good to see the…
It is clear that the Citizens Utility Board is either unwilling or unable to advocate for the policies that will actually reduce costs for consumers. Center of the American Experiment…
Renewable energy advocates in Minnesota often claim that capacity factors for wind, the percentage of electricity generated by a power plant compared to its theoretical output, are sky high in…
This article is the second installment explaining the findings of our new study entitled Doubling Down on Failure, How a 50 percent by 2030 Renewable Energy Standard Would Cost Minnesota $80.2…
According the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, wind turbines have operational lifetimes of 20 years, but it appears Xcel Energy’s Nobles wind project, the third-largest wind farm in Minnesota, is losing…
If we want to compare the cost of different power sources, it is necessary to also consider the value they offer to the grid. If energy sources like wind and…
EIA: "Onshore wind looks to be competitive in only a few regions before the legislated phase-out of the production tax credit (PTC)." Is anyone really surprised?
Wind farm decommissioned after just 20 years.
An industrial wind facility in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin has been decommissioned after just 20 years of service because the turbines are no longer cost effective to maintain and operate. The decommissioning…
Advocates of reducing CO2 emissions from electricity generation have released a new study attempting to show the necessary steps to make 13 states CO2-free in the Midwest. Unfortunately, the study,…