In his March 9 column ("Pricey power in the mix"), Rick Martinez was snared by a trap that befalls many when looking at North Carolina energy policy. His problem comes from comparing new renewable power plants with existing conventional power plants. His analysis would have been more helpful had he compared the cost of new renewable energy to energy from new coal, nuclear or natural gas plants. The unfortunate truth is that any new power plant will be more expensive than what we currently have. And given the continued growth of our state, we will need new generation. In order to keep future energy prices as low as possible, renewables will be an important element in our state's future energy mix. The price of conventional sources of energy (coal, nuclear and natural gas) is rising inexorably, but the price of renewables is falling. Last November, the U.S. Energy Information Agency updated its analysis of the projected cost to build generating plants. From 2010 to 2011, the cost of coal, nuclear and natural gas plants increased 25 percent to 39 percent, while solar photovoltaic costs dropped 25 percent. When one includes the cost of fuel, energy from wind farms costs less than that from new coal, nuclear and natural gas facilities.
Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/03/19/1063192/renewable-energy-is-on-the-upswing.html#ixzz1HFTzoBra
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