Ontario's power glut means possible nuclear plant shutdowns

[kristopher]

3. The price for electricity from renewable generation are declining

The price for electricity from coal and nuclear are increasing.

The example in the OP demonstrates how those dynamics are going to manifest themselves.

What that means is that the subsidies for fossil fuel and nuclear are nothing more than corporate welfare that benefits neither the taxpayer nor the consumer. The subsidies for renewables, on the other hand, are having precisely the desired outcome of reducing costs and laying the groundwork for a new , self-sufficient and sustainable energy infrastructure.

Subsidies for Oil, Gas and Nuclear vs. Renewables

Energy sources, from coal to oil and gas to nuclear, have all been subsidized over the last 400 years in the U.S. and elsewhere. By most metrics, renewable energy sources have received far less in subsidies in their early years than any of these other energy sources.

These findings come from a report by Nancy Pfund, Managing Partner, DBL Investors, and Ben Healey, a graduate student at Yale University School of Management and School of Forestry and Environmental Studies .

Pfund said, “All new energy industries -- timber, coal, oil and gas, nuclear -- have received substantial government support at a pivotal time in their early growth, creating millions of jobs and significant economic growth," adding, “Subsidies for these ‘traditional’ energy sources were many, many times what we are spending today on renewables."...

According to the report, as a percentage of inflation-adjusted federal spending, nuclear subsidies accounted for more than one percent of the federal budget over the first 15 years of each subsidies’ life; oil and gas subsidies made up half a percent of the total budget, but renewables have amounted to only about a tenth of a percent.

Oil/Gas 4.86 billion avg /year (1918-2009),

Nuclear $3.50 billion avg /year (1947-1999)

All Renewables $0.37 billion avg /year (1994-2009)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x312860

Link to the study PDF: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=what%20would%20jefferson%20do%3F&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDUQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fi.bnet.com%2Fblogs%2Fdbl_energy_subsidies_paper.pdf&ei=NogwT67ZKcrIsQL7qfmYBw&usg=AFQjCNF7Tu5WaoYb0fJ5YF_kaYlBQGuUhA).