I see what you did there, BobL. 
Posted on 06/19/2023 3:37:07 PM PDT by george76
Xcel Energy’s new $1.7 billion Power Pathway Project to build 550 miles of new 345-kilovolt power lines and at least four new substations in eastern and southeastern Colorado will add to the cost of renewable energy.
Xcel customers will be paying for the power lines to help meet Gov. Jared Polis’ Greenhouse Gas Reduction Roadmap goals for carbon reduction.
...
for nearly full electrification of buildings and transportation, Net-Zero America co-principal investigator Jesse Jenkins, an assistant professor and energy systems engineer at Princeton, told The Denver Gazette in an email that the U.S. would have to increase transmission capacity by at least 60% by 2030 and by nearly 300% by 2050.
This could mean building as much as 884,000 miles of new transmission lines nationwide to add to the existing 183,000 miles of lines, at a potential costs of more than $1 trillion, according to figures provided by Jenkins. Jenkins could not provide an estimate for Colorado alone.
Reaching the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 will require substantial investment in the U.S. transmission grid, to accommodate growing electricity demand from EVs, heat pumps, and hydrogen producers, and
...
when all the costs of using renewable energy are factored in, the comparative costs between renewables and, for example, natural gas or nuclear power, shift dramatically.
...
Dr. Robert Idel, who holds a PhD in Economics from Rice University, published a study in the scientific journal Energy in 2022 examining the way in which the cost of energy from a source like windmills or nuclear power is calculated.
The traditional levelized cost of energy (LCOE) represents “the expected lifetime generation of an electricity generating plant and the expected costs to generate the lifetime electricity,” said Idel.
It’s important to note that the classic LCOE is calculated based on the output of the generator itself and doesn’t include the costs of distributing that energy.
Idel said the standard way of calculating how much energy costs “has been criticized for ignoring the effects of intermittency and non-dispatchability.”
These two factors are inherent in both wind and solar sources, which do not provide full-time stable power to the grid.
To address this, Idel discusses a novel cost evaluation metric — the Levelized Full System Costs of Electricity (LFCOE), to address what he sees as a deficiency in the standard method.
He concludes that the LCOE per-megawatt-hour for wind and solar of $40 and $36 respectively, drastically underestimate the true LFSCOE per megawatt-hour as compared to other generating sources including coal, natural gas, and nuclear power.
Idel says in Texas, the LFSCOE of wind and solar of $291 and $413 respectively, are two to four times the cost of nuclear power, which comes in at $122, and five to 10 times more expensive than natural gas, which comes in at $42 per MWh.
Idel’s analysis does not include the additional costs pointed out in the Princeton report for building power lines to reach all of the widely distributed wind turbines and solar farms.
Colorado Ping ( Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
“Costs of wind and solar in Colorado underestimated, don’t include costs of power lines”
Oh PLEASE, it is up to the UTILITIES to pay for the cost of the power lines.
Talk about a stupid article...
I’ll bet the costs also do not include:
* backup power plants for the times the wind doesn’t blow (or blows too hard) or the sun doesn’t shine (or shines too much and the solar panels get too hot and lose efficiency) or the solar panels are covered in snow or dirt.
* energy storage systems
* demolition and land restoration costs
* complete redesign of grid control systems to maintain stability with unreliable power sources
* hundreds of thousands of new secondary transformers in neighborhoods to charge all the new EVs.
Add all that in and you’ll find that this “green” fetish is an economic disaster.
The greeniacs simply ignore all these real costs.
Yeah, I know!
Does it include government subsidies?
Oh please, it is up to the rate payers to pay for the cost of the power lines plus a guaranteed profit margin for the utility company.
Talk about a stupid comment.
In related news: The cost of the Biden Pacific and Indian Ocean Railroad doesn’t include the cost of the tracks and the supports to keep them above the water.
No, Utilities are RICH!!! Do you have any idea what I pay for electricity in Texas, during the summer? No way that they aren’t pocketing most of it. I’m no dummy.
20 years ago Xcel said spending $190 million by ratepayers to upgrade existing power plants was in the ratepayers best interest to keep the units running through 2035.. now wants to close them..
As a regulated monopoly, Xcel is guaranteed huge profits if they build new stuff... Xcel and politicians do not care about the rate payers.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3676530/posts
I see what you did there, BobL.
Wind Turbine blade life ~ 20 years or less ... then, trucked to a dump .. Wind turbine blades can not be recycled, not renewable - so they are piling up in landfills ..
Note the bulldozer.
Butt, butt, butt wind and solar are free right? 😁👍
I got ya now. LOL
Then Brandon snuck into the WH and in his first week issued EO's making it harder to drill for natural gas, which lowered supply and made natural gas prices go up. Which made power rates go up (because the power utility adds as a rider per kWh their fuel cost). So I saw both my power bill shoot up again and my natural gas bill.
So I went solar, replaced my two natural gas appliances with high efficiency electric ones (replaced A/C and natural gas furnace with a variable speed heat pump and variable speed air handler, then replaced natural gas water heater with a hybrid water heater and do duct work magic to make the water heater work more efficiently). I liked it so much I did my Phase II and added to my solar and replaced my wife's old ICE crossover (since it needed replacing anyway) with an EV crossover (but still have an old ICE pickup for the few times that driving an EV won't do).
Now 80% of all the power we need comes from solar, including charging the EV. And we don't drive the ICE pickup nearly as much anymore, so we don't have to hardly buy gasoline. And no natural gas bill.
It's nowhere nearly as efficient as traditional energy would be if the Dims got out of the way. And solar wouldn't work on the grid nearly as well as it does for my home (or perhaps yours since much of Texas' climate is similar to mine). But it gives mine and my wife's retirement investments a buffer against the Dims' stupid energy policies. Plus it makes our power more dependable.
“I see what you did there, BobL.”
Thanks. It literally SICKENS me seeing government attacking private companies, even when they are in very competitive markets, such as electricity or auto insurance here in Texas. When you have 20 companies fighting for market share, there is NO WAY that a company can get away with overcharging.
...and the sad thing is that even people here buy into this Leftist crap.
“Now 80% of all the power we need comes from solar, including charging the EV.”
NICE! Just make sure that if the grid goes down, you still can use the power that your arrays generate, as that is usually NOT the case.
Talk about a stupid comment . “ Utilities pay for the power lines”. Never.
Was shaking my head. Just because you’re doing a carryout dinner, doesn’t mean you’re not also paying for the plates, utensils and napkins.
Utility companies don’t pay taxes either. Neither do businesses. They charge all customers for their taxes.
1) increased costs from having to add a lot more power lines.
2) the loss of a percentage of power actually generated as it has to be beamed down power lines a considerable distance away to where its actually needed
3) The cost of having to have 100% backup capacity on hand at all times (ie coal fired power plant) because wind and solar are not reliable enough by law
4) the disposal cost wind turbines and solar panels - which are toxic waste after 10-15 years
Once you add in the REAL costs, wind and solar are prohibitively expensive without massive subsidies.
RE: wind and solar of $291 and $413 respectively, are two to four times the cost of nuclear power, which comes in at $122, and five to 10 times more expensive than natural gas, which comes in at $42 per MWh.
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But they’re part of saving the earth from climate change world ending catastrophe.🤪
As they destroy the economies of the West, create social unrest from grid breakdowns and allow the Chinese to come in to declare the US a new province of China.
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