NEW ENERGY WILL CUT POWER BILLS FOR BIGGEST U.S. GRID

Largest U.S. Grid Operator Finds Wind Energy Saves Consumers Money Under Epa's Clean Power Plan

Michael Goggin, 5 March 2015 (American Wind Energy Assoication)

“Using wind energy will reduce the cost of complying with EPA’s Clean Power Plan by billions of dollars, particularly if natural gas prices increase, according to detailed new analysis…by PJM, the grid operator for 60 million people in 13 Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes states…PJM compared scenarios in which PJM states fully met their Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requirements versus a lower scenario in which only currently planned renewable plants were built, reducing the amount of available renewable energy by around 20 million MWh per year…With more renewable energy available, the cost of operating the power system under EPA’s Clean Power Plan decreased by around $200 million in 2020, $800 million in 2025, and $1.2 billion in 2029, while wholesale electricity costs for consumers decreased by $2.4 billion in 2025 and $4.1 billion in 2029…PJM also found that the benefits of renewable energy were even more pronounced in a scenario with higher natural gas prices…PJM found a combination of greater use of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and new gas generation provided gross production cost savings of $1.6-2.3 billion per year under its base gas price assumption, while those savings grew to $2.3-3.8 billion per year if natural gas prices were 50 percent higher…” click here for more

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