Rooftop Solar is Harmful, Part 2

Solar Energy / Economics

Date posted: 04/08/15

Donn reports that his previous article - Part 1 - showed how people are sponging off the grid with PV rooftop solar systems. The claim is frequently made that fossil fuels get more subsidies than do renewables. Like so many claims made by advocates for wind and solar, this is also bogus. Actually, the subsidies received by renewables have been far greater in recent years than those received by fossil fuels. Perhaps the biggest untruth with respect to energy is that fossil fuels receive huge subsidies, while wind and solar receive few if any subsidies. A report providing data on subsidies was produced by the Congressional Budget Office on March 13, 2013. Testimony given to the House of Representatives included a chart that provided a clearer picture of where tax preferences, i.e., subsidies, have been applied. From 1977 until 1987, fossil fuels received large subsidies because of the oil embargo and efforts by the United States to achieve energy independence. For the next 18 years there were far fewer subsidies for either fossil fuels or renewables. Beginning in 2006, subsidies increased substantially, and from 2008 to the present, renewables have received far larger subsidies than fossil fuels. This puts to rest the idea that wind and solar should get subsidies, because they already do, and the subsidies renewables get are very large … much, much larger than are received by fossil fuels. This does not address whether wind and solar should get subsidies. The levelized cost of electricity - LCOE - for wind and solar is between two to four times higher than for natural gas combined cycle - NGCC - power plants. Subsidies for wind and solar require tax payers to pay twice - First by using taxpayer money for subsidies, second by forcing tax payers to pay higher prices for electricity. Then there is the argument that everyone benefits from PV rooftop solar. This is the most specious argument of all. .