Last week, Analysis Group released a study, commissioned by AEE and AWEA, Electricity Markets, Reliability, and the Evolving U.S. Power System, which concluded that changes to the U.S. energy mix resource mix pose no threat to reliability. This week, another independent study prepared by the Brattle Group for the Natural Resources Defense Council, comes to the same conclusion. Both Greentech Media and Utility Dive reported on both studies, as well as others that say much the same thing.
Both studies come after Secretary Perry asked DOE to conduct a 60-day study on whether wind and solar are undercutting “baseload” electricity generation like coal and nuclear power. At the time, we called it a shot across the bow of the advanced energy industry, mistakenly trying to prop up industries that are becoming less economically viable under the guise of “national security.”
It’s important to note that nobody—not AWEA, AEE, NRDC, and neither Analysis Group nor the Brattle Group, both respected industry consulting groups —is arguing that grid reliability is not a matter of national security. It clearly is. But the notion that renewable generation sources like wind and solar are to blame for shrinking market share for legacy generation sources, rather than low-priced natural gas and flat electricity demand, forcing price competition, is incorrect. Moreover, as the electricity grid incorporates flexible and responsive technologies allowing for agile and up-to-the-minute management, the term “baseload” generation has become an outdated concept.
Read more at Energy News: Experts Agree – Advanced Energy Is No Threat; Wind Energy and Windsurfers in Texas
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