My rates for electricity have radically increased with the wind and solar additions the grid - and ERCOT is part of the problem with wind and solar generators being the other part. They’ve worked together and the result is higher cost and no improvements in grid reliability.
Jeff, I am in ERCOT. My three-year residential contract at 15 cents per kWh is expiring in August. I just signed the next one for five years at 14.2 cents per kWh. I am not seeing prices rise.
You paid too much at 15, the average in Houston and Dallas has risen. Three years ago in Houston I was at 9.6 cents all in.
I am looking at new commercial rates and as a manufacturer I get a break - with Entergy my all in rate is being quoted under a dime - not ERCOT, they are MISO and have their own gas fired plant near Montgomery with two more in SETexas under construction.
Jeff, thanks for alerting me to the two power plant construction projects in Cleveland and Port Arthur. I attended a Zoom meeting when the Port Arthur project was in the early planning stages. It was billed as a hydrogen project then and I now read that both new plants are described as hydrogen-capable. And carbon-capture capable. If they capture carbon dioxide I hope they sell it to people who can use it.
Entergy Texas needs to support the growth in the area. They will have over $2 billion in capital costs to add to the rate base, of course.
I hope they can keep building central power plants with all sources of fuel. Electric power is a wonderful thing for society.
Hey, I don't want to let your statement stand that I overpaid in 2022. I used powertochoose.com. I am a pretty knowledgeable energy shopper and I would not have overpaid by 50%.
Neither wind nor solar can generate the dispatchable power needed for utility power required to operate and energize the grid to absorb the unregulated electricity generated.
I have never heard of any wind or solar farm that was net metered and I’m sure we would have if there was a possibility of economic success.
Came across this conundrum yesterday. Apparently Portugal has a high level of renewables, but relatively cheap electricity. I gather they are doing something funky with gas prices being capped but would value an explanation as to the smoke and mirrors I suspect is being deployed to cover the real cost.
As a guy who looks for patterns in data, I think the most interesting thing is the cluster of countries in the lower left corner with very low costs per kWh. Who are they and what are they doing right? Are they first-world countries? Do their governments set prices below the cost of production? I am not going to take the time to recreate the graph but these questions could be the basis for another article by the original author or some other curious person.
Does the cost graph account for the installation of the newer energy sources? The fossil generators are already bought and paid for so acquisition of equipment is not much of a factor. So will the prices come down? I certainly agree that down-time means that old fuels can’t be eliminated. I hope that fusion devices become available and we can toss the others.
Fission is already working, proven over many decades, and has an amazing safety record - much better than any other power source. It should cost about 1/3 of average US costs because it is so over-regulated and over-litigated in the US. South Korea builds a nuclear reactor in three years, not ten.
My rates for electricity have radically increased with the wind and solar additions the grid - and ERCOT is part of the problem with wind and solar generators being the other part. They’ve worked together and the result is higher cost and no improvements in grid reliability.
Hello Jeff, thanks for the comment.
I am a Texas resident and it pains me to see how the Great State has invested in bogus renewables.
Jeff, I am in ERCOT. My three-year residential contract at 15 cents per kWh is expiring in August. I just signed the next one for five years at 14.2 cents per kWh. I am not seeing prices rise.
You paid too much at 15, the average in Houston and Dallas has risen. Three years ago in Houston I was at 9.6 cents all in.
I am looking at new commercial rates and as a manufacturer I get a break - with Entergy my all in rate is being quoted under a dime - not ERCOT, they are MISO and have their own gas fired plant near Montgomery with two more in SETexas under construction.
Jeff, thanks for alerting me to the two power plant construction projects in Cleveland and Port Arthur. I attended a Zoom meeting when the Port Arthur project was in the early planning stages. It was billed as a hydrogen project then and I now read that both new plants are described as hydrogen-capable. And carbon-capture capable. If they capture carbon dioxide I hope they sell it to people who can use it.
Entergy Texas needs to support the growth in the area. They will have over $2 billion in capital costs to add to the rate base, of course.
I hope they can keep building central power plants with all sources of fuel. Electric power is a wonderful thing for society.
Hey, I don't want to let your statement stand that I overpaid in 2022. I used powertochoose.com. I am a pretty knowledgeable energy shopper and I would not have overpaid by 50%.
Thanks.
Chris is a wonderful follow on X
What's more the slope of that line implies that Wind + Solar costs 5.7X that of conventional electricity sources: gas, coal, nuclear & hydro.
Ken Gregory, P.Eng, graph Euro/kwh by country 2019: Conclusion: European Wind Plus Solar Cost 6 Times Other Electrical Sources
friendsofscience.org/index.php?id=2550
O so true... and so hard for some to grasp... O so sad.
Neither wind nor solar can generate the dispatchable power needed for utility power required to operate and energize the grid to absorb the unregulated electricity generated.
I have never heard of any wind or solar farm that was net metered and I’m sure we would have if there was a possibility of economic success.
Came across this conundrum yesterday. Apparently Portugal has a high level of renewables, but relatively cheap electricity. I gather they are doing something funky with gas prices being capped but would value an explanation as to the smoke and mirrors I suspect is being deployed to cover the real cost.
Portugal's electricity is dominated by hydro, natural gas, and wind -- 30% hydro, 21% natural gas, 27% wind, 7% biofuels, 11% solar. https://www.iea.org/countries/portugal/electricity
First 2 listed look good 👍
As a guy who looks for patterns in data, I think the most interesting thing is the cluster of countries in the lower left corner with very low costs per kWh. Who are they and what are they doing right? Are they first-world countries? Do their governments set prices below the cost of production? I am not going to take the time to recreate the graph but these questions could be the basis for another article by the original author or some other curious person.
Another great resource is Francis Menton of the Manhattan Contrarian: https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2022-8-18-the-completely-fraudulent-levelized-cost-of-electricity?rq=LCOE
Does the cost graph account for the installation of the newer energy sources? The fossil generators are already bought and paid for so acquisition of equipment is not much of a factor. So will the prices come down? I certainly agree that down-time means that old fuels can’t be eliminated. I hope that fusion devices become available and we can toss the others.
Fission is already working, proven over many decades, and has an amazing safety record - much better than any other power source. It should cost about 1/3 of average US costs because it is so over-regulated and over-litigated in the US. South Korea builds a nuclear reactor in three years, not ten.
Excellent article, THANKS!