Giberson: “I’ve seen a lot of mention of high electric power prices lately. Some blame wind and solar energy, others are blaming retail customer choice (i.e. “restructuring” or less accurately “deregulation”). Mostly it appears the analysts do not take inflation into account. Real retail prices of electricity in the US are on average about where they were a decade ago, and below the recent peak in 2008.”

Bradley: But what about US and state taxpayers footing part of the bill for the duplication of Texas generation? Factor that in and the price spikes when renewables fail and a wounded gas-and-coal industry is left.

And don’t forget–electricity policy reform is not only regulatory restructuring/re-regulation as eliminating the franchise and rate regulation for utilities. A real free market….

Bradley: This study needs to be redone with some of the comments I made above, starting with hassle costs from the whole switchover (which were not reflected in price) and the total costs of wind/solar/batteries not reflected in rates (born by US taxpayers).…

Ed. Note: This post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, a free fortnightly published by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. The complete Newsletter for this post can be found here.

Greed Energy Economics:
*** “Green” Hydrogen Subsidies are 1,900x Larger Than What’s Given to Nuclear

Unreliables (General):
*** Coming Clean on Clean Energy: It’s a Dirty Business
(Alex Epstein) Summer Talking Points: Unreliable Power
Wholesale prices surge as wind and solar output falls to zero in South Australia

Wind Energy — Offshore:
*** Report: Offshore Wind Turbines May Kill You
Vineyard Wind turbine debris makes it to Cape Cod
Floating Offshore Wind – A Financial Catastrophe
Feds must rethink authorizing harassment of whales by offshore wind

Wind Energy — Other:
*** Taking the Wind Out of Climate Change (referencing 60± studies)
*** Report: Clearing the Air — Honest Truths About Clean Energy
Wind project shelved after landholders change their minds

Solar Energy:
State Regulations Force Bankruptcy of California Solar Company

Nuclear Energy:
*** Swedes Embrace Nuclear & Join Europe’s Grand Rejection of Wind & Solar Transition
*** Small modular nuclear reactors could be an affordable path to a carbon-free future
America’s oldest nuclear plants are in Upstate, and NY needs them.…

Ed. Note: This is Part 5 on the ideology of environmentalism and its incompatibility with the foundational individualist philosophy of the United States. “America’s Enlightenment Heritage” (Part 1) is here; “Conservation vs. Preservation” (Part 2) is here; “Inhuman Rights” (Part 3) is here; “Philosophic Conflict” (Part 4) is here; “The ‘Ideal’ of Primitivism” (Part 6) is here.

“Yes, we too are part of nature; but our nature is that of a developer…. It’s morally appropriate for us to regard the rest of nature as our environment—as a bountiful palette and endless canvass for our creative works.”

The basic premise of preservationism is that all of nature—except, of course, human nature—has “intrinsic value” in itself, and thus a “right” not to be affected by Man.…

“City leaders should stop pretending Houston will, or should, transition away from oil and gas anytime soon…. Houston should embrace its role in sustaining and improving the lives of literally billions of people globally each day. It’s a legacy worth standing up for… and even celebrating.” (Doug Sheridan, below)

Hyperbole and government subsidies (bribes, to critics) is the lifeline for inferior energies (think dilute, intermittent, resource-intensive wind and solar). Such as been the case since the 1990s in Houston, Texas when Ken Lay of Enron Corp. empowered executive Robert Kelly to create a new renewables business, a story told here.

And shame-on-shame that some Houston business leaders that should know better have embraced low-density, political energies. I am thinking of Bobby Tutor, chair of the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, and Steve Kean of the Greater Houston Partnership.…