Environment & Energy
In reply to the discussion: Intermittency Of Renewables?… Not So Much [View all]BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)Going back to the OP, it is clear that the big power companies have moved on. The last thing they ever wanted to see was a highly distributed generation system (PV shingles on every house) because that would theoretically put them out of business, leaving them nothing but the grid.
But realistically that isn't happening in any big way -- and they simply aren't worried about that anymore. In many cases, they have successfully got the laws rigged so that even if an individual generates surplus juice, the power company buys it more cheaply than they pay to generate electricity from coal or gas. And the big numbers aren't coming from mom and pop. They are coming from major solar and wind installations, many of which are controlled by these same power companies. And that's just fine. Regulated utilities have served the country well over the years, as long as the regulation is effective. And we need the muscle of big companies to make a real dent in the carbon numbers.
That part of the picture is looking very, very good (i.e. the wind and solar generation, as well as the grid improvements.) The part that is still a problem is the fact that we have an entrenched nuke and coal industry that will be very hard to displace. There are two basic facts that most people aren't aware of, and they are crucial:
1) Thanks to conservation, the US has been very nearly flat in its electricity consumption over the past 5 years or so.
2) We are bringing on new wind and solar capacity MUCH, MUCH faster than our national demand is increasing.
Add those two together, and there is absolutely no compelling reason ever to build (or extend) any nuclear or coal plant -- ever. Only political reasons.