Powerline 11/22/2022
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/11/costs-of-wind-and-solar-energy-are-skyrocketing.phpAdvocates of wind and solar energy have argued that the cost of those energy sources would decline over time as they are more widely adopted. That never made any sense, and it has not proved true. In fact, the cost of both wind and solar energy is destined to continue rising sharply as the massive quantities of materials they require become more expensive as a result of increasing demand, driven by ill-advised (the politest adjective I can think of) government mandates and subsidies.
In fact, the cost of electricity generated by wind and solar is already skyrocketing. My colleague Isaac Orr reproduced this chart at American Experiment. It shows the average cost of wind and solar energy as contracted for in Power Purchase Agreements with utilities from 2019 through early 2022. It should be noted that these are subsidized prices, not the full cost if you include the portion that is paid by taxpayers:
The average cost of electricity generated by wind turbines has almost doubled in three years, and yet governments continue their irrational policies that can only drive the cost of power higher. The one thing that could make the situation catastrophically worse is if governments imposed drastic new demand on the electric power grid by making us all drive electric vehicles. But no, they could never be that stupid. Could they?
