Green Energy Central Planning Delivers Exploding Electricity Costs and Power Shortages
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
The consequences of Obama’s fundamental transformation of our electricity market is starting to take root.
Obama’s war on coal coupled with state renewable energy mandates is resulting in exploding energy costs and greatly increases the possibility of blackouts.
The recent cold winter exposed our vulnerability to energy shortages and natural gas price spikes and now Americans are shocked at their utility bills.
The Los Angeles Times story, “U.S. electricity prices may be going up for good,” confirms our worst fears about green energy central planning.
The article illuminates the effects of mounting EPA regulations on the coal industry that are causing a significant reduction of coal-based power and an escalation of state mandates that force the use of wind and solar power. The ramifications of energy central planners include disrupting the reliability of our power grid and exploding electricity costs.
There is a growing fragility in the U.S. electricity system, experts warn, the result of the shutdown of coal-fired plants, reductions in nuclear power, a shift to more expensive renewable energy and natural gas pipeline constraints. The result is likely to be future price shocks. And they may not be temporary.
One recent study predicts the cost of electricity in California alone could jump 47% over the next 16 years, in part because of the state’s shift toward more expensive renewable energy.
“We are now in an era of rising electricity prices,” said Philip Moeller, a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, who said the steady reduction in generating capacity across the nation means that prices are headed up. “If you take enough supply out of the system, the price is going to increase.”
Most concerning is the increasing likelihood of power shortages from the lack of energy diversity hidden by EPA’s lies.
Moeller, the federal energy commissioner, warns that these rapid changes are eroding the system’s ability to handle unexpected upsets, such as the polar vortex, and could result in brownouts or even blackouts in some regions as early as next year. He doesn’t argue against the changes, but believes they are being phased in too quickly.
The federal government appears to have underestimated the impact as well. An Environmental Protection Agency analysis in 2011 had asserted that new regulations would cause few coal plant retirements. The forecast on coal plants turned out wrong almost immediately, as utilities decided it wasn’t economical to upgrade their plants and scheduled them for decommissioning.
Readers of this blog are familiar with our concerns about Obama’s war on coal and his green energy madness.
New visitors to this blog can catch up by reading, “EPA is the real threat to our power grid,” “Blackouts and worse: Dems Policies Killing New England” and “Polar vortex exposes failure of energy central planners.”
The electricity price and shortage train is roaring down the tracks and our elected officials are doing absolutely nothing to stop the wreck that’s just around the corner.
When the lights go out it will be the fault of progressive green energy central planners and the establishment Republicans that funded EPA’s war on coal.
