9mo ago

Fossil Fuel Interests Ramp Up Their “Solar Makes Electricity More Expensive” Falsehood

cleantechnica.com

Fossil Fuel Interests Ramp Up Their "Solar Makes Electricity More Expensive" Falsehood - CleanTechnica

Green Energy @slrpnk.net

Sunshine (she/her) @lemmy.ca

9mo ago

Fossil Fuel Interests Ramp Up Their “Solar Makes Electricity More Expensive” Falsehood

cleantechnica.com /2025/01/02/fossil-fuel-interests-ramp-up-their-solar-makes-electricity-more-expensive-falsehood/

18 comments

I find it amusing that this story comes up right next to this other one about German power costing less than nothing because of renewables.
https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/34786535
- Green energy is somehow both way too expensive and dangerously cheap.
  That can literally be said by the same individuals in adjacent sentences depending on the narrative they’re spinning at the time.
- TLDR daily on YouTube was spreading fud also recently. It's amusing to see the fossil fuel media reach. It also helps identify who are the shitheads that sell out for pennies.
  
  Can you point to a specific video? I find they're usually pretty accurate with facts, and they even recently had their FAQ where they addressed some misses they had.
  I've missed a few videos in the last couple weeks due to the holidays (I tend to listen at work), but I didn't see any headlines about fossil fuels from the last couple weeks, at least in the Nebula app, assuming that's what you're referring to.
"But if you don't pay into the grid, there will be no money for maintenance of the grid!!!"
What, like all these private power companies have been doing a good job of maintaining that grid infrastructure anyway? Don't make me laugh any harder. They've taken all of their profits from the last century, give or take, and largely done the corporate equivalent of blowing it all on hookers and cocaine rather than reinvesting any but the bare minimum back into their own infrastructure.
If it isn't profitable to run the grid, that's great! To use an example, the sewer system in my county is run directly by... the county. It is not a for profit enterprise, because as soon as you pull your head out of your own ass you can realize that trying to make modern basic necessities like power, water, and sewer access private businesses is a moronic idea. One which leads to inevitable catastrophe, because capitalists are going to do what capitalists do. The fact that these idiots are straight-facedly behaving as if we "owe" them profits in perpetuity and expect us to swallow it is almost as bad as the fact that, by and large, the public still does. Nationalize that shit. It's a matter of national security anyway, at this point.
- Their wealth is going to end up with a lot of "stranded assets".
- I mean you can and they probably will. Unless something is easy enough to make yourself in your garage there will always be a free market to expand into and then extinguish.
lol
German power prices dropped below zero on the first trading day of the year, an increasingly frequent phenomenon in Europe as renewables expand.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-02/german-power-slips-below-zero-as-negative-price-phenomenon-grows
seeing ads on youtube saying "SolArr PAneLS rUiN YOurr rOOf!"
- Right, that can happen. If an idiot installs the panels. But then, idiots can cause all sorts of problems, like making blanket statements such as the one above!
  
  Yeah, idiots can also spill a couple of million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Whoopsie doodle! I guess that's just the cost of doing business, amirite? Good thing stuff like that always happens far away...
funny, on the same day we get a headline about Germany energy prices dipping into negatives mainly due to renewables... hmmm
I'm Joe nobody Shmoe and I've installed solar in my home. Its awesome. The fucking laws in San Diego California...of all places... Make it difficult for anyone to run solar outside of the grid.
Anyway, stop? Like we are all aware, so stop the lying? I'm teaching my kids how to do it. So stop lying?
Our power bills get more expensive.
Um, mine haven't, and we have been expanding solar quite a bit. Here's a list of states by electricity production source, and I sort by solar, my state (Utah) is 4 (if you count DC) and our electricity costs have stayed around $0.12-13/kWh after all fees (depending on how much you use). This article lists states by electricity costs, and my state is 6th cheapest (10.85%).
Fuel costs are the main contributor according to the EIA, and the state with the highest percentage of solar is only at 21% (we're 10% at 4, so it drops off quick), and most states are primarily fueled by fossil fuels. Renewables aren't driving up prices, otherwise I would've seen my electricity prices rise as the share from solar rose, especially given our cheap access to natural gas (we produce it) and coal. But no, our prices stayed steady despite record inflation, and the energy company is only this year being considered for a modest increase to energy prices (probably to catch up w/ inflation).

18 comments