“Wind power’s growth is challenged because the best sites for windmills have already been exploited, the end-of-life mills are being torn down, subsidies are declining, and some of the enthusiasm for windmills departed with former DOE Secretary Dr. Chu. The new Secretary, Dr. Muniz, believes in solar.”

As most people are, I too am subjected daily to the mass media reports that broadcast the need for building renewable, clean energy sources. Those sources are usually identified as “wind, solar and others” followed by a hint at their rapidly increasing output.

Suspicious, I looked up the sources and their annual output as compiled by our Department of Energy (doe.eia.gov). The result are plotted in the two attached graphs. The upper one shows the “Other” sources, the lower one “wind and solar.”

Looking at the four sources in the upper graph, hydro, wood, waste and geothermal, there has not been a worthwhile upward trend in any of them for two decades.…

The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy and environmental policies. Our premise is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science (please consult WiseEnergy.org for more information).

A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every three weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and the environment. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.

Some of the more insightful articles in this issue are:

Wind and Solar have Destroyed the Energy Market

Batteries Will NOT Save Wind Energy

Health Officer Gets Migraines When Visiting Wind Project

Will Turbines Ever Be Bird Safe? (Audubon)

Wind Energy is a Public Health Problem

Wind Projects Tear Communities Apart

Time to Regroup and Defend Against Big Wind

Why Renewable Energy is a Worse Option than Nuclear

Is Global Warming Quickening?…

“By focusing strictly on cost-competitiveness, grid parity fails to consider how dispatchability influences an energy source’s value on the grid. Moreover, renewable energy sources rely heavily on government funding to even reach cost-competitiveness. Continued subsidization of solar and wind to make them cost-competitive or accelerate their adoption is unjustified. “

As Part I of this analysis explained, grid parity for renewable energy is an empty concept because it fails to consider the functionality of renewable resources on the electric grid. Since grid operators must balance supply and demand to sustain grid stability and meet the power needs of Americans, dispatchable resources are extraordinarily valuable for electricity generation.

Resources such as coal, natural gas, nuclear, and hydropower can dispatch power on demand, but solar and wind energy are intermittent, making them undependable for electricity generation.…

“Coal, natural gas, nuclear, and hydroelectric power are essential because they are predictable and dispatchable resources; conversely, renewables produce power intermittently and are less valuable as a generation resource…. To reach true grid parity, an energy source should be able to produce affordable electricity as well as dependably meet electricity demand.”

The idea of cost-competitiveness for renewable energy resources—called “grid parity”—is misleading and incomplete without considering reliability. Yet recent reports are pushing grid parity as an imminent reality. For example, a February 2016 study from GTM Research assessed that electricity from residential solar has attained grid parity in 20 states.

How an electricity source functions on the grid is more important than mere cost-competitiveness. To reach true grid parity, an electricity source should provide affordable, reliable power on a dependable basis.…