“Texas problem with wind and solar generation has been growing for years. In 2022, wind farms generated 25% of the electricity used in ERCOT. Solar farms generated 5.65%. Ten years earlier, wind’s market share was 12.25% and solar’s 0.03%. This has placed a great strain on the grid because neither of these generation sources can be counted on when needed.

Source: Reuters

Reuters recently ran a story highlighting wind generation’s failure through the early months of 2023:

The Texas power grid operator urged homes and businesses to conserve electricity on Tuesday as the first major heat wave of the season spurs residents to crank power-hungry air conditioners. Power prices for Tuesday topped $2,500 per megawatt hour (MWh) in the state’s day-ahead market on expectations that demand would reach record levels later in the day, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

“The systemic opposition of the locals to massive solar arrays and wind farms has created a new class of environmentalists. They live in and support greenery over government machining their living space. In contrast, the Washington, D.C. ‘environmentalists’ lobby and push from their concrete jungle. Going green and private property rights are aligned against Big Brother.”

The exchange (on Facebook) began with a post by Kevon Martis on the community pushback regarding a 1,000+ MW solar installation in Sanilac County, Michigan (see picture below). “Proposed Solar Farms Cause Community Concerns” reported concerns over water drainage (a recurring issue), and lower property values. Incessant noise and other issues can cross property lines in the case of industrial solar also. This is one battleground of many hundreds, of which nearly 300 wind/solar projects have been rejected or delayed in the U.S.…

“While solar and wind receive huge subsidies, the end user pays for the party.”

“The dream of a solar and wind grid is collapsing very quickly as they are only profitable in a low penetration context.”

The following LinkedIN discussion is notable for its insight and reader reaction–and timely with summer concerns about grid reliability, given the wind/solar penetration at the expense of reliables.

Oscar L. Martin teed things off with this post:

Early adopters of solar and wind such as Texas or California are starting to see alarming signs of saturation even when the total energy production of intermittent sources barely reaches 24% of the total in those areas. Basically the dream of solar and wind is collapsing very quickly as they are only profitable in a low penetration context.…

“For the foregoing reasons, we respectfully make the following two requests: First that NOAA/Fisheries reopen the public comment period on the CVOW request for an LOA. Second, that NOAA/Fisheries neither consider nor approve the LOA until after the entire NEPA process is concluded and a ROD is issued for the project. Should NOAA/Fisheries deny either of our requests, we will initiate legal action.”

There is an old joke: “When is an environmentalist not an environmentalist?” Answer: “When it comes to Industrial Wind Turbines.” …

I was reminded of this upon reading a respectful, firm letter from the legal council representing free-market organizations to Jolie Harrison, Chief Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. The matter is in regard to Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial Project – Dominion Application for Letter of Authorization to Take Small Numbers of Marine Mammals, the latest salvo being

a request from the Virginia Electric and Power Company, doing business as Dominion Energy Virginia (Dominion Energy), for Incidental Take Regulations (ITR) and an associated Letter of Authorization (LOA) pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) [for] … authorization of take, by Level A harassment and Level B harassment, of small numbers of marine mammals over the course of 5 years (2024–2029) incidental to construction of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial (CVOW–C) project offshore of Virginia … and associated Export Cable Routes.