I must admit, it is spectacular to watch the tears flowing from the windosolar (Irina Slav's brilliant term) crowd as they find out that the government is no longer their sugar daddy. Alas, I fear that your point about advocates understanding that wind and solar cannot survive without subsidies and mandates is limited to a very small number of that group. rather, many, especially politicians who have no understanding of the actual physics of energy, accept the LCOE BS as gospel and religiously believe that wind and solar are cheaper to run.
"The DEBA funding of $25,000,000 under Agreement DBA-25-002 will enable the Applicant to purchase, install, and report performance of a 75 megawatt (MW) portion of a 402.3 MW/four-hour lithium-ion battery system approved by the Lead Agency at the Athos Renewable Energy Project in Riverside County"......
It seems that the city will be maintaining their competitive advantage in retail electric rates-
We don’t need any sticks or carrots for electricity production!! That’s how we got here in the first place. Government distorts the market no matter whose “side” it’s on.
The windosolar crowd won’t go quietly, too much money to be grifted is at stake. The firms who have enjoyed the greatest game of Three Card Monty in the last 30 years, are now sitting in high rise building conference rooms, quilted vests buttoned up tight around blue checked tattersall shirts, pointy brown tie shoes in desperate need of polish, worn out too tight, too short, no cuff blue suit trousers, all saying “what do we do now?” The portfolios, top heavy with wind and solar investments, in Funds III, IV and V are timing out. Who will they find to continue to play the greater fool game, if no one is around or willing to pay up and play? Trump is like the old Boston Tactical Patrol Force. Arriving at all four sides of the Boston Common in flying wedges of motorcycles, (AND they didn’t call Whitey Bulger ahead of time to get his permission) they put on an example of the term “violence of action” rounding up bums, addicts, “social workers” known by names such as “street walkers”, the Three Card Monty gamesters and cleaned the place up. Wind and solar would have likely died a long slow death anyway. It would get too expensive to keep the projects going, unlike a coal burner, mixed fuels, nukes, hydroelectric facilities (built in the 1920’s…) which like the Everyready Battery Bunny just keep on running, the wind solar people have not been around long enough to see that there is a price to pay for their wages of sin. The stuff breaks, and it breaks fast and it is hard to fix, and suddenly like the bottom of a funnel the speed and force of the exit become too great to overcome. Whoosh, see ya fellas wouldn’t want to be ya. The Trump administration have merely put their foot on the accelerator to speed the process up. This said, when the pipe is laid and the gas lines charged up and flowing gas through the State of New York, this writer will believe the powers that be let in the State, let it happen. The Governor of New York has appointed the New York Power Authority to handle new nuclear power development in the state. What could possibly go wrong? New pipelines, new transmission lines, and upgraded distribution systems again with the regulated utilities and the state working hand in hand, there is a bright future for New York rate payers. As New York goes so go the 6 New England States. Cold and in the dark, is no way to go through life Mr. Blutarsky…The northeast is the tip of the green spear, let’s hope this administration has enough time to dull the tip down sufficient to stop this madness of the last 20-30 years.
What I see is a complete lack of acceptance of reality on the green side. If you read Yahoo News, CleanTechnica, and other such left wing propaganda, it sounds like they are winning even under Trump. There is very little acknowledgement of the huge blows their movement had taken. The most fervent writers have taken to rebroadcasting long debunked talking points like they are green gospel.
Great article, as always, and I especially liked the illustrations. I don't think I fully understood the one with the cow and the catapult, though. Disposing of sacred cows?
When governments subsidize projects, residents incur costs twice: first as taxpayers who indirectly fund the subsidy, and then as consumers facing elevated prices for commodities and diminished consumption.
Most of all, I am bothered by the lack of discussion about the billions of people living in some form of energy poverty and the subset of women enduring their unimaginably primitive existence.
Energy humanism, economic development and practical environmentalism are goals for all of humanity, not who is more left, right or righteous.
P.S. Then, there are the matters of freedom of speech, open debate, full disclosure of interests, and higher education. Just saying!
These are few good and important points. Well intended, physics based subsidy/regulation carrot may be a good thing if it delivers something of value for sustainable future. In last 50ish years Nuclear Power in US and most of Europe was treated with criminalising sticks of overregulation and obstruction. Building efficient Nuclear Power Plants at should be costs and rates (like in 60s, early 70s) would allow cheap, plentiful, clean, safe power, reducing inflationary effects of fossil fuels (crisis after crisis connected to them with lots of wars an misery, with all the Putin and similars). Lifting those in energy poverty would have been much more realistic if not spending massive subsidies onto windsolar and biomass.
At the least, they kept their grift to levels that were either not harmful, or not especially noticeable. Now days, the grift is the goal and they have no care for what damage it might do or how clearly the public sees the damage.
Of course, they still expect the traditional media to cover over the damage so the public never sees it, or only sees it for a moment, as they publish one story quickly forgotten and never repeated.
I must admit, it is spectacular to watch the tears flowing from the windosolar (Irina Slav's brilliant term) crowd as they find out that the government is no longer their sugar daddy. Alas, I fear that your point about advocates understanding that wind and solar cannot survive without subsidies and mandates is limited to a very small number of that group. rather, many, especially politicians who have no understanding of the actual physics of energy, accept the LCOE BS as gospel and religiously believe that wind and solar are cheaper to run.
Grants are still flowing in CA-
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CNRA/bulletins/3f69e81
"The DEBA funding of $25,000,000 under Agreement DBA-25-002 will enable the Applicant to purchase, install, and report performance of a 75 megawatt (MW) portion of a 402.3 MW/four-hour lithium-ion battery system approved by the Lead Agency at the Athos Renewable Energy Project in Riverside County"......
It seems that the city will be maintaining their competitive advantage in retail electric rates-
https://riversideca.gov/utilities/sites/riversideca.gov.utilities/files/pdf/rates-electric/2024/Electric%20Schedule%20A%20%20-%20Effective%2001-1-24%20Final.pdf
part of me wants to sympathize with the Californians, but they continue to elect left wing lunatics to office and so, they get to pay for their sins.
What a great time, with the government "shut down," to kill off excess, damaging regulation? Nearly as good as a recess appointment.
We don’t need any sticks or carrots for electricity production!! That’s how we got here in the first place. Government distorts the market no matter whose “side” it’s on.
What I voted for.
I'm not sure which is better, your angry carrot images or the article. Bravo & Thanks.
Great article. Did you see the, Oct 7th, Wash Post article about coal mining in PA? It was actually a positive article! Unbelievable!!!
A very important historical review!
The windosolar crowd won’t go quietly, too much money to be grifted is at stake. The firms who have enjoyed the greatest game of Three Card Monty in the last 30 years, are now sitting in high rise building conference rooms, quilted vests buttoned up tight around blue checked tattersall shirts, pointy brown tie shoes in desperate need of polish, worn out too tight, too short, no cuff blue suit trousers, all saying “what do we do now?” The portfolios, top heavy with wind and solar investments, in Funds III, IV and V are timing out. Who will they find to continue to play the greater fool game, if no one is around or willing to pay up and play? Trump is like the old Boston Tactical Patrol Force. Arriving at all four sides of the Boston Common in flying wedges of motorcycles, (AND they didn’t call Whitey Bulger ahead of time to get his permission) they put on an example of the term “violence of action” rounding up bums, addicts, “social workers” known by names such as “street walkers”, the Three Card Monty gamesters and cleaned the place up. Wind and solar would have likely died a long slow death anyway. It would get too expensive to keep the projects going, unlike a coal burner, mixed fuels, nukes, hydroelectric facilities (built in the 1920’s…) which like the Everyready Battery Bunny just keep on running, the wind solar people have not been around long enough to see that there is a price to pay for their wages of sin. The stuff breaks, and it breaks fast and it is hard to fix, and suddenly like the bottom of a funnel the speed and force of the exit become too great to overcome. Whoosh, see ya fellas wouldn’t want to be ya. The Trump administration have merely put their foot on the accelerator to speed the process up. This said, when the pipe is laid and the gas lines charged up and flowing gas through the State of New York, this writer will believe the powers that be let in the State, let it happen. The Governor of New York has appointed the New York Power Authority to handle new nuclear power development in the state. What could possibly go wrong? New pipelines, new transmission lines, and upgraded distribution systems again with the regulated utilities and the state working hand in hand, there is a bright future for New York rate payers. As New York goes so go the 6 New England States. Cold and in the dark, is no way to go through life Mr. Blutarsky…The northeast is the tip of the green spear, let’s hope this administration has enough time to dull the tip down sufficient to stop this madness of the last 20-30 years.
What I see is a complete lack of acceptance of reality on the green side. If you read Yahoo News, CleanTechnica, and other such left wing propaganda, it sounds like they are winning even under Trump. There is very little acknowledgement of the huge blows their movement had taken. The most fervent writers have taken to rebroadcasting long debunked talking points like they are green gospel.
Exactly. They just cycle through arguments every eight years.
I hope real environmental movements return at some point. It’s scary how much environmental damage has been done for these wind and solar projects.
Great article, as always, and I especially liked the illustrations. I don't think I fully understood the one with the cow and the catapult, though. Disposing of sacred cows?
Oh there was no symbolism there. I was thinking this https://youtu.be/JQ8jGqdE2iw?si=rNfwcRXTdVxpG7c9
Ah, but of course. My brain wasn't in that context. Thank you. Excellent.
Only true speakers of the holy language known as "sarcasm" can truly appreciate Monty Python's Holy Grail.
When governments subsidize projects, residents incur costs twice: first as taxpayers who indirectly fund the subsidy, and then as consumers facing elevated prices for commodities and diminished consumption.
Most of all, I am bothered by the lack of discussion about the billions of people living in some form of energy poverty and the subset of women enduring their unimaginably primitive existence.
Energy humanism, economic development and practical environmentalism are goals for all of humanity, not who is more left, right or righteous.
P.S. Then, there are the matters of freedom of speech, open debate, full disclosure of interests, and higher education. Just saying!
These are few good and important points. Well intended, physics based subsidy/regulation carrot may be a good thing if it delivers something of value for sustainable future. In last 50ish years Nuclear Power in US and most of Europe was treated with criminalising sticks of overregulation and obstruction. Building efficient Nuclear Power Plants at should be costs and rates (like in 60s, early 70s) would allow cheap, plentiful, clean, safe power, reducing inflationary effects of fossil fuels (crisis after crisis connected to them with lots of wars an misery, with all the Putin and similars). Lifting those in energy poverty would have been much more realistic if not spending massive subsidies onto windsolar and biomass.
I miss the days when the elected representatives and the unelected bureaucrats actually cared about the country.
At the least, they kept their grift to levels that were either not harmful, or not especially noticeable. Now days, the grift is the goal and they have no care for what damage it might do or how clearly the public sees the damage.
Of course, they still expect the traditional media to cover over the damage so the public never sees it, or only sees it for a moment, as they publish one story quickly forgotten and never repeated.
The problem is, if you believe in human-caused climate change, the market alone will not slow the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere.
We have been decarbonizing for many decades regardless of government policy.
Subsidies are the root of all economic evil.