Via The Centre Daily Times:

Thanks to the production of baseload electricity from a diverse mix of power plants, households are benefiting from cheap and reliable electrical energy. This is especially true in states with coal and nuclear plants, where an abundance of dispatchable power means assured electricity for businesses and better prices for the consumer.

More than anything else, electricity needs to be affordable and reliable. No wonder most utilities want to keep the nation’s large conventional plants in operation, proceeding from the precautionary principle that total dependence on renewables is an illusory, unattainable goal. It was invoked recently by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency responsible for the sale of wholesale electricity, in a ruling in which FERC expanded the Minimum Offer Price Rule and did so in the largest electricity market in the nation – the PJM Interconnection, which serves 65 million customers in 13 states, including Pennsylvania.

By expanding the Minimum Offer Price Rule, FERC removed some of the openings that have allowed heavily-subsidized renewables to up-end the electricity system, pushing dozens of baseload power plants out of the marketplace. With fewer coal and nuclear plants providing electricity to meet rising needs, the electricity system is facing a potential grid reliability problem – and action to address it is overdue.

Think about it: After years of financial assistance, along with mandates for the use of renewables in most states, it is startling to realize how little solar and wind power is actually being produced. Despite government tax credits and mandates, renewables contribute only marginally to U.S. energy supplies. Today solar and wind together provide just 8 percent of the nation’s electricity. Coal and nuclear power each supply more than twice as much electricity, while undergirding the electric grid night and day.

Yet under the decades-old Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, known as PURPA, utilities are required to purchase renewable energy they often don’t need at above-market prices. Aside from the cost, renewables have yielded too little to entrust them with the job of replacing coal, natural gas and nuclear power. Placing great reliance on solar and wind to keep the lights on in millions of households — and also power businesses and industries — is irresponsible and dangerous.

Make no mistake, renewables have a critically important environmental role to play. Except for necessary back-up fossil plants, both solar and wind are emission-free, and the cost of producing solar arrays and wind turbines has dropped dramatically. Let’s hope the cost continues to fall and the share of renewables in U.S. electricity production grows.

But utilities need prudent insurance against the possibility that might not happen as planned. America’s economy demands full-time electricity. Solar and wind provide only part-time electricity. Electricity demand is greatest in late afternoon and early evening, but the strongest sun is at noon and wind energy is at its peak during the night. Utility storage of large amounts of power to meet peak demand or on days when the weather isn’t cooperating does not exist.

FERC’s action would give Pennsylvania and other states with renewable electricity standards more flexibility in determining the amount of renewable energy to be placed on the electric grid based on competitive market prices rather than a fixed projected cost. If that works, if utilities join the effort, and if environmentalists step out of the way or are cast aside, then great things are in store for Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

FERC’s action would give Pennsylvania and other states with renewable electricity standards more flexibility in determining the amount of renewable energy to be placed on the electric grid based on competitive market prices rather than a fixed projected cost. If that works, if utilities join the effort, and if environmentalists step out of the way or are cast aside, then great things are in store for Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

See the article here.