Economics

by Dana Nuccitelli, 9/3/24

I just came across this interesting paper, although it was published last October. The authors performed model projections of the cheapest source of electricity in every country over the coming years, including ‘system storage cost (SSC)’, which is basically battery storage, if needed. Right now it’s mostly a mix of wind and solar (although interestingly, in Russia it’s nuclear power), but by 2027 the falling costs of solar + battery storage are expected to become the cheapest source almost everywhere.

The blades on the newest wind turbines sweep an area longer than a football field and are nearly impossible to recycle.

At the end of their life span of around 20 years, they are chopped into pieces and buried in a handful of landfills across the Great Plains. But this waste problem from a growing source of low carbon energy could become a headache of the past.

Rising electricity costs are putting American households under increasing financial stress. But clean energy isn’t to blame — even if Republican lawmakers and pro-fossil fuel advocates say otherwise.  :See example.

The real drivers of climbing electricity rates are spikes in fossil gas prices, rising costs to maintain and rebuild aging and stressed grid infrastructure, and a utility business model that incentivizes big capital investments that customers have to pay off over decades.

That’s the conclusion of a new report from think tank Energy Innovation, which takes on one of the favorite talking points of those striving to reverse renewable energy mandates and climate change policies across the country.

Note: The Green Premium (the cost of something done with clean energy divided by the cost of doing the same thing using fossil-fuel-based energy) for EV’s has finally gone negative.  Not only are EVs cheaper than gasoline-powered cars on a “total cost of ownership” basis, but now the upfront capital cost is less, too.

At least three manufacturers — Tesla, Hyundai-Kia and General Motors — now offer EVs with more than 300 miles (480 kilometers) of range for less than the cost of the average new vehicle sold in the US, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Green.

Affordable electricity is a major issue in households across the country. According to a report by the US Energy Information Administration, roughly 27% of US households report struggling to pay their energy bills.

At the same time, utility companies are making significant investments to lower their carbon emissions. Join Resources for the Future (RFF) on June 26 for the next event in our series on environmental justice.

Editor’s Note: “About the Money” is a new feature for CCLNV.org.  It reports on new technologies (which are “early” and still expensive) and the public policies intended to help them cross the “Valley of [Financing] Death” to a point where innovations, “learning curves” and economies of scale can make them cost-competitive with fossil-fuel-based alternatives.

Here are some stories from RTO Insider, an industry newsletter serving utilities, regulators, transmission planners and others.

 Note:  We often hear that “the clean energy transition needs to happen at an unprecedented speed and scale.”  Well, how much will is cost?   BloombergNEF has done the calculations and found that the need is $34 trillion by 2050.   BNEF reported that global investment in the low-carbon energy transition surged 17% in 2023 to $1.8 trillion, but it concludes that the pace of this spending needs to accelerate.

Our labor market is tighter than a rotten clam shell, companies in the clean energy sector are already struggling to hire workers, and we’re looking at a job market that, according to the Political Economy Research Institute, could grow to 9 million by the end of the decade.

In short, we won’t be able to unlock the full might of the IRA’s investment capital without the complementary labor capital to build it.