renewable energy

The following is a report from the National Center for Energy Analytics written by Jonathan Lesser and Mitchell Rolling. Lesser is a Senior Fellow for Discovery Institute and a Senior Fellow for the National Center for Energy Analytics. Executive Summary Can electric grids that are powered primarily by wind and solar power provide reliable and affordable electricity when coupled with battery storage? Although advocates insist that it is feasible, this study demonstrates that a wind-solar-battery policy to meet electricity demand is physically implausible, cost-prohibitive, and unjustifiable on the basis of goals to reduce CO2 emissions. While the quantity of battery storage has grown rapidly, it remains a miniscule share of total U.S. electricity consumption. At the beginning of 2026, total Read More ›

In a just-released report, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) claims that renewable energy is the most cost-competitive source of new electricity generation worldwide. The report further claims that “91% of new renewable power projects commissioned last year were more cost-effective than any new fossil fuel alternative” based on levelized costs, which can be thought of as the energy equivalent of a fixed mortgage. If those claims sound too good to be true, it’s because they are. IRENA’s boasts ignore a fundamental reality: the intermittent electricity generated from wind and solar is fundamentally different than electricity generated by traditional generating resources that are not subject to the whims of the weather. In the U.S., the Energy Information Administration (EIA) makes the Read More ›

Like the Jeopardy! game show, green energy subsidies have been Congress’ answer to every energy policy question. The first OPEC oil embargo of 1973-74 catalyzed decades of energy policy, including the formation of the Department of Energy. Wind, solar, and hydropower subsidies began in earnest with the Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act of 1978. Similarly, subsidies for corn-based ethanol were enacted as part of the National Energy Conservation Policy Act of 1978. Both were designed to reduce the country’s dependence on Middle East oil. The PURPA subsidies set off a race by independent developers to construct small generating plants whose output electric utilities were required to purchase at administratively set prices. In some cases, the subsidies were independent of how much Read More ›