Comments - New law and Gov. Mills’ energy goals set off solar-farm land rush - Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine2024-03-28T16:56:21Zhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=4401701%3ABlogPost%3A175343&xn_auth=noWhat keeps these big solar in…tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2019-10-06:4401701:Comment:1753712019-10-06T17:01:41.133ZPenny Grayhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/PennyGray
<p>What keeps these big solar installations from hooking into those miles and miles of wind factory transmission lines? Might clear cutting laws might be rewritten to accomodate the leveling of Maine's forestlands? Personally I think solar panels belong on roofs. We've destroyed enough of our environment.</p>
<p>What keeps these big solar installations from hooking into those miles and miles of wind factory transmission lines? Might clear cutting laws might be rewritten to accomodate the leveling of Maine's forestlands? Personally I think solar panels belong on roofs. We've destroyed enough of our environment.</p> COST SHIFTING IS THE NAME OF…tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2019-10-06:4401701:Comment:1753692019-10-06T16:28:59.648ZWillem Posthttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/WillemPost942
<p><strong>COST SHIFTING IS THE NAME OF THE GAME REGARDING WIND AND SOLAR</strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>Regarding wind and solar, cost shifting is rarely mentioned, identified or quantified. Those costs, as c/kWh, could be quantified, but it is politically expedient, using various, often far-fetched reasons, to charge them to:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>- Directly to ratepayers, via electric rate schedules, and/or added taxes, fees and surcharges on electric bills</p>
<p>- Directly to…</p>
<p><strong>COST SHIFTING IS THE NAME OF THE GAME REGARDING WIND AND SOLAR</strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>Regarding wind and solar, cost shifting is rarely mentioned, identified or quantified. Those costs, as c/kWh, could be quantified, but it is politically expedient, using various, often far-fetched reasons, to charge them to:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>- Directly to ratepayers, via electric rate schedules, and/or added taxes, fees and surcharges on electric bills</p>
<p>- Directly to taxpayers, such as carbon taxes, user fees and surcharges.</p>
<p>- Directly to federal and state budgets and debts</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Per Economics 101, no cost ever disappears.</p>
<p>Eventually, the various shifted wind and solar costs, plus direct and indirect wind and solar subsidies, would increase the prices of energy and of other goods and services.</p>
<p>Efficiency and productivity improvements elsewhere in the energy sector, and other sectors of the economy, may partially, or completely, offset such increases.</p>
<p>However, wind and solar subsidies would divert capital from other sectors of the economy, which likely would result in fewer improvements in efficiency and productivity in these sectors.</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow noopener" href="http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/high-demand-and-low-wind-and-solar-during-summer-in-new-england" target="_blank">http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/high-demand-and-low-win...</a></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Comments on Below Table</strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Indirect subsidies </strong>are due to loan interest deduction and depreciation deductions from taxable incomes.</p>
<p><strong>Direct subsidies </strong>are due to up front grants, waiving of state sales taxes, and/or local property (municipal and school) taxes. See URL.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>An owner of ridgeline wind would have to sell his output at 18.8 c/kWh, if the owner were not getting the benefits of cost shifting and upfront cash grants and subsidies.</p>
<p>That owner could sell his output at 16.4 c/kWh, if his costs were reduced due to cost shifting.</p>
<p>He could sell his output at 9 c/kWh, if on top of the cost shifting he also received various subsidies. The same rationale holds for solar. See table.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>In NE construction costs of ridgeline wind and offshore wind are high/MW, and the capacity factor of wind is about 0.285 and of solar about 0.14. Thus, NE wind and solar have high prices/MWh. See table.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In US areas, such as the Great Plains, Texas Panhandle and Southwest, with much lower construction costs/MW and much better sun and wind conditions than New England, wind and solar electricity prices/MWh are less.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Those lower prices often are mentioned, without mentioning other factors, by the pro-RE media and financial consultants, such as Bloomberg, etc., which surely deceives the lay public</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Future electricity cost/MWh, due to the planned build-out of NE offshore wind added to the planned build-out of NE onshore wind, likely would not significantly change, because of the high costs of grid extensions and upgrades to connect the wind plants and to provide significantly increased connections to the New York and Canadian grids.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>NOTE: </strong>For the past 20 years, Germany and Denmark have been increasing their connections to nearby grids, because of their increased wind and solar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The subsidy percentages in below table are from a cost analysis of NE wind and solar in this article. See URL.</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/excessive-subsidies-for-2200-kw-field-mounted-solar-system-in">http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/excessive-subsidies-for...</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Values for 2018 are represented in below table.</p>
<p> </p>
<table>
<tbody><tr><td><p>NE Wind/Solar</p>
</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">NE Wind</p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"><p>%</p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"><p>NE Solar</p>
</td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">%</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr><td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">Ridgeline</p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"></td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">Large-scale</p>
</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr><td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">c/kWh</p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"></td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">c/kWh</p>
</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><p>Price to utility</p>
</td>
<td><p>No direct/indirect subsidies</p>
</td>
<td><p>No cost shifting</p>
</td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">18.8</p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"><p>100</p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"><p>23.5</p>
</td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">100</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><p>Less cost shifting</p>
</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">2.4</p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"><p>13</p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"><p>2.1</p>
</td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">9</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><p>Price to utility</p>
</td>
<td><p>No direct/indirect subsidies</p>
</td>
<td><p>With cost shifting</p>
</td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">16.4</p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"><p>87</p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"><p>21.4</p>
</td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">91</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><p>Less subsidy, wind</p>
</td>
<td><p>45% of 16.4</p>
</td>
<td></td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">7.4</p>
</td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">39</p>
</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><p>Less subsidy, solar</p>
</td>
<td><p>45% of 21.4</p>
</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">9.6</p>
</td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">41</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><p>Price to utility*</p>
</td>
<td><p>With direct/indirect subsidies</p>
</td>
<td><p>With cost shifting</p>
</td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">9.0</p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"><p>48</p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"><p>11.8</p>
</td>
<td><p style="text-align: right;">50</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table> The solar peddlers are tying…tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2019-10-06:4401701:Comment:1755452019-10-06T15:37:42.569ZMountain Viewhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/MaryAdams
<p>The solar peddlers are tying up land in central Maine with 20 year leases, but that won't be the case when landowners see the potential of growing hemp. </p>
<p>The solar peddlers are tying up land in central Maine with 20 year leases, but that won't be the case when landowners see the potential of growing hemp. </p>