Climate watch: Renewable energy is the sensible economic choice
Reading a recent article in the CDT — written by a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter — about the increase in Pennsylvania power prices I was struck by the glaring omission of renewable energy.
The article flatly stated that electricity prices are rising because of “higher energy costs” when it should really have written “higher fossil fuel costs.”
Solar panel prices have seen a slight increase this year, but electricity prices from already installed renewables do not change.
When Penn State built its solar array in 2019 it entered into a power purchase agreement that gives the university a consistent price for power for the next 25 years. The power from this array was already cheaper than fossil-fueled power from the grid back then. And as fossil-fueled electricity prices increase it becomes an even better deal. The Centre Region Council of Governments has been exploring installing a solar array for years and paying higher electricity prices every day it delays.
Homeowners too are paying higher electricity prices by not installing solar. Mounting rooftop panels usually only takes a day and while it costs thousands up front, the cost per kilowatt hour over the life of the panels is very low. Solar panels last a long time. Most are warrantied to continue producing for 20 years. Higher-end models increase this to 25. If the panels on my roof die the day after their warranty expires, I will have enjoyed an almost 50% reduction in electricity costs, without even considering savings due to increases in fossil fuel prices. Taking out a loan to buy rooftop solar offers far greater savings than the 7% discount that the “standard offer” from utilities provides and these savings are locked in for decades.
Of course, many people don’t own their homes, or have shaded roofs that are not good fits for solar. These people can still benefit from renewable generation, but we must push our state Public Utility Commission to require utilities to install it. Currently only around 3% of PA’s electricity is generated from renewables. Utilities that own existing fossil fuel generation plants want to keep it this way because they make more money selling us expensive electricity from fossil fuel. Our PUC has the power to change this though. They can require PA utilities to install more renewable electricity in our state so all PA residents can benefit. Given that utilities are basically monopolies, this may be the only way they will change.
Fossil fuel interests that don’t want to lose their market will trot out tired old “the sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow” arguments to slow renewable growth. While this is true, it’s also true that renewable generation has the lowest cost per kWh. Once installed it more than pays for itself by reducing the amount of expensive fossil fuels we burn. The amount of room our grid has for renewables becomes clear when you see that Iowa generates 60% of their electricity from renewables while PA only gets around 3%.
No matter your position on climate change, it is undeniable that once you burn fossil fuels you cannot get them back. As we extract more the supply that is left decreases which leads to higher costs. Renewable generation locks prices in on the day it is installed and can be recycled decades later when it does fail.
Renewables are the only sensible economic choice for our future power, and we must push our utilities to install more of them.