The rhetorical walls areclosing in on opponents to renewable energy. Michigan recently issued a report on its 2008 renewable energy mandates. Renewables not only cost significantly less than coal from a new coal power plant, but they are cheaper to implement than originally estimated in 2008.
When compared to the cost of electricity from new coal plants, renewable resources turn out to be as much as 26% CHEAPER than electricity from a new coal plant. The average wind power price per KwH is 24% cheaper than electricity from a new coal plant.
State regulators find the current cost of a new coal power plant over the life of the facility is $133 per mega watt hour of production.
Based on more than two dozen actual renewable energy contracts for solar, wind and bio-gas generated electricity, the average price is about $100 per mega watt hour of production. Bio-mass incineration is at $98, wind $101, landfill gas $113, digesters $128 and several small-scale solar installations at approximately $500.
To further illustrate the point we can look at the top ten states with the costliest electricity rates....
Hawaii
Connecticut
New York
New Hampshire
Alaska
New Jersey
Rhode Island
Maine
Vermont
Massachusetts
And see how many match the
top ten states with the most wind power as a percentage of their total energy production...
Iowa
Minnesota
Kansas
North Dakota
Oregon
Washington
South Dakota
Texas
Montana
Wyoming
Not a lot in common there.
What's more, the cost of implementation is turning out to be as much as 70% cheaper than originally projected.
That “renewable energy”charge might be lowered by the Public Service Commission after it received Consumers' modified renewable energy plan last week. The initial plan [for Consumer's Energy company] to meet the 10 percent renewable power mandate in 2015 was estimated to cost $78 million, however the power company now says those costs are expected to be only $23 million.
In related news theLudington Pumped Storage Facility is receiving an $800 million expansion.
The pumped storage facility is a massive water reservoir just off the coast of Lake Michigan on the West coast of Michigan. During low power demand periods the facility uses excess energy from the grid to draw water from Lake Michigan into the reservoir. Then when the power is needed during peak demand hours, the flood gates are opened and the water rushes out through large turbines, producing power.
The facility is basically an enormous battery capable of generating 1872 MW of power on demand. It will be expanded to produce 2,172 MW of power on demand. The project will create 100 jobs for six years.
It's an ideal set up to compliment Michigan's renewable energy aspirations, since facilities like this start to lower the impact of intermittent power from things like wind power and solar.
The innovative electric “battery” built in 1973 on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan south of Ludington is a key component for the public utilities as they move into alternative sources of energy, such as wind farms.
Iowa has created a similar strategy for storing renewable energy power called the Iowa Stored Energy Park. Instead of water, they use compressed air pumped into an empty natural gas pocket, which is then released as the power is needed.
Yesterday I was at a store and the guy behind the counter was somebody I wet to high school with. He asked me "so, how's the wind power stuff going?" referring to my accidental activism with local wind power issues.
"Little victories here and there. There's a 100 to 150 MW wind farm coming to the Muskegon waste water treatment facility. We're getting there."
"I hope so," he nodded "something's gotta change."
It's changing already. Like home computers and compact flourescent light bulbs, they were an oddity one year, and the next year they were everywhere. I remember reading about wind power in magazines like Popular Science as a kid. It all seemed so futuristic and amazing..."some day we may be harnessing the power of the wind to produce cheap, clean energy." I remember feeling a tickle of excitement as I imagined some day I'd see that day.
It's pretty awesome. Sometimes it's cool to be living in The Future.