Pinthouse Pizza
Solar Power Way Too Expensive
RECEIVED Tue., Feb. 24, 2009
Dear Editor,
The Chronicle described the proposed solar array in Webberville [“City Hall Hustle,” News, Feb. 20] this way: “When completed, it would be a major step in Austin’s ambitious renewable energy goals, generating 30 megawatts by 2010.”
In truth, the array will generate 30 megawatts only at high noon on clear days. Austin Energy (our city-owned utility) has never told the public how much energy the array will produce per year, but nighttime cuts the output by half. Then there are clouds, humidity, and the attenuation of oblique sunlight. Reliable analyses predict 6 to 6.9 megawatt-years per year – much less than the 30 megawatt-years suggested by all the hype. This is only 0.5% of Austin’s needs. Since Austin Energy will burn a bit less natural gas, its carbon footprint will shrink by 0.5%.
At what cost? A 1,000-kilowatt-hour residential bill will go up 60 cents. But 1,000 kilowatt-hours cost almost exactly $100, so this is a 0.6% rate hike. Since AE sold $919 million of electricity in 2007, the total hike is 0.6% of $919 million or $5.5 million per year, driven by a $10 million purchase of power.
So here’s the deal. Gemini Solar deploys its solar cells, made in China, on city land that we give over to them. AE buys $10 million of electricity per year from Gemini for the next 25 years, paying twice what it can sell the electricity for or a bit more. AE passes its $5 million annual losses to everyone in rate hikes – $125 million over 25 years. At the end of the 25-year payout, the city won’t own the array. And what do ratepayers get in return? A reduction in AE’s carbon emissions by 1 part in 200 – just a drop in the bucket. It is no wonder that nobody else in the U.S. has been foolish enough to build an array even half this large!
The Chronicle described the proposed solar array in Webberville [“City Hall Hustle,” News, Feb. 20] this way: “When completed, it would be a major step in Austin’s ambitious renewable energy goals, generating 30 megawatts by 2010.”
In truth, the array will generate 30 megawatts only at high noon on clear days. Austin Energy (our city-owned utility) has never told the public how much energy the array will produce per year, but nighttime cuts the output by half. Then there are clouds, humidity, and the attenuation of oblique sunlight. Reliable analyses predict 6 to 6.9 megawatt-years per year – much less than the 30 megawatt-years suggested by all the hype. This is only 0.5% of Austin’s needs. Since Austin Energy will burn a bit less natural gas, its carbon footprint will shrink by 0.5%.
At what cost? A 1,000-kilowatt-hour residential bill will go up 60 cents. But 1,000 kilowatt-hours cost almost exactly $100, so this is a 0.6% rate hike. Since AE sold $919 million of electricity in 2007, the total hike is 0.6% of $919 million or $5.5 million per year, driven by a $10 million purchase of power.
So here’s the deal. Gemini Solar deploys its solar cells, made in China, on city land that we give over to them. AE buys $10 million of electricity per year from Gemini for the next 25 years, paying twice what it can sell the electricity for or a bit more. AE passes its $5 million annual losses to everyone in rate hikes – $125 million over 25 years. At the end of the 25-year payout, the city won’t own the array. And what do ratepayers get in return? A reduction in AE’s carbon emissions by 1 part in 200 – just a drop in the bucket. It is no wonder that nobody else in the U.S. has been foolish enough to build an array even half this large!
Robert C. Duncan, Ph.D.