Saturday, June 13, 2009

The REAL Cost of Solar and Wind Electricity

It only matters if you pay taxes...

There are several alternative ways to compare subsidies across fuels. In FY 2007, wind power received subsidies and support valued at $23.37 per megawatthour (MWh). Refined coal and solar had even higher subsidies per MWh produced. The estimated subsidies for traditional primary energy sources used for electricity production were significant in total dollars. It is estimated that coal received $854 million, nuclear received $1,267 million, and natural gas and petroleum liquids received $227 million. However, these traditional forms of generation produce most of the Nation’s electricity, resulting in subsidies and support per unit of production of between $0.25 and $1.69 per megawatthour. --US Department of Energy

In other words, that windmill is sucking up 20x the tax subsidy that the nuke plant is. 'Splains all the interest from the Oklahoma Windbag himself, no?

HT: BeerBiker

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