States Are Unplugging Their Renewable-Energy Mandates

From the WSJ by Donald Bryson and Jeff Glendening. Excerpts:

"Most state RPS laws (Renewable Portfolio Standard) require that between 10% and 25% of electricity come from renewables. The figure is higher in some states: In New York the mandate is 30% by the end of this year, and in California it is 33% by the end of the decade."

"A June study by the Institute for Energy Research shows that electricity generated from new wind farms is between two and four times more expensive than electricity from existing coal, natural gas and nuclear plants. Compared with new fossil-fuel plants, electricity from new wind farms is between 15% and 54% more expensive. As for solar, EIA data show it will continue to be significantly more expensive than competitors for at least the rest of the decade, and likely far beyond.

Electricity prices in most states with RPS laws are “starkly higher,” according to a 2012 Manhattan Institute report. The difference was especially striking in coal-dependent states: “Seven such states with RPS mandates saw their rates soar by an average of 54.2 percent between 2001 and 2010, more than twice the average increase experienced by seven other coal-dependent states without mandates.”

Nationally, federal data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that electricity is, on average, 22.9% more costly—24.2% for residential customers and 21.4% for industrial—where RPS mandates are in effect."