Lots of ‘renewable’ options for energy consumers, but why are so few of them any good?

Virginia Mercury ^ | May 21,2021 | Ivy Main

[fireman15]

Virginia residents who want to do right by the planet are confronted with a bewildering array of renewable energy and “green power” options. Unfortunately, few of these programs actually deliver renewable energy. People who want the gold standard — electricity from new wind and solar projects — are completely out of luck if their utility is Dominion Energy Virginia or Appalachian Power.

To understand how there can be so many options and none of them good, we first have to talk about renewable energy certificates. RECs are a topic that is way more interesting than it sounds because — well, it would have to be, wouldn’t it? RECs are how we know that some electricity can be attributed to a renewable source. If you want to know what kind of renewable energy your utility is buying, or if you yourself want to buy renewable energy, RECs matter.

RECs are not electricity; they aren’t even real certificates. They were conceived of as an accounting tool enabling a utility to show it is in compliance with a state mandate to include a percentage of renewable energy in its mix. A utility amasses RECs associated with its own renewable generating sources, or buys them from renewable sources it doesn’t own, and then “retires” them to show compliance with the law. Since RECs are separate from the electricity itself, they can be bought and sold independently. There is even an online marketplace for your REC shopping convenience.

[fireman15]

This is a bit of a primer on the way utility companies are manipulated into wasting rate payer money by politicians.

[FreedomPoster]

> To understand how there can be so many options and none of them good, we first have to talk about renewable energy certificates.

Because green energy as currently conceived is a pipe dream.

[bobbo666]

You are being too kind. In the minds of the charlatans pushing this crappola it is not a dream. It is a means to an end. Like snake oil. They know it is crappola, but don’t care so long as they get their cut. Remember Solyndra. The REC’s are a way to package BS. Kind of like a stage magician waving a shiny doodad in front of a crowd while palming the object that should be of interest. Renewables don’t make sense because their energy density is too low to be useful.

[Zathras]

The best one I have seen is in sunny locations like AZ, add shade for parking and mount the cells on the roof.
Easy to maintain and no need for maintenance to access building.
Putting it on roofs causes leaks and vastly complicates service.

[MAAG]

It is about bringing down the USA, so the New World Order can rule, now called the Great Rest and Build Back Better.

Look up Agenda 21, from the UN.

[RideForever]

Because the of residential solar panels create about 10% of the advertised power, so the rate of return is dramatically over-estimated. Adding state subsidies makes solar unrealistic, even without the reliability of weather factor.

[fireman15]

We have some Texans on the forum who swear the solar panels eliminate their electric bill as the utility companies there are forced to buy back power from them at the full retail rate.