More Renewables Means Less Reliable Electricity Across the West

November 14, 2022

An organization tasked with making sure electricity is reliable across the Western United States is sounding the alarm. Increased reliance on renewable energy will mean less reliable electricity.

Fox News reports, “The Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) said in a recent reliability assessment that planning reserve margins for 2023 rose from 16.9% in 2021 to 18.3% in 2022 due in part to the increase in variable resources, like wind and solar, that only produce power when the wind blows or the sun shines.” 

WECC anticipates these problems will only get worse as Western states, primarily with liberal leadership, force more renewable energy electricity generation. Fox continues, “The problem will get worse over time since most western states have committed to aggressive clean energy targets and the federal government plans to spend billions on clean energy development under the Inflation Reduction Act. Over the next decade, WECC said entities in the West plan to retire nearly 26 gigawatts (GW) of mostly coal and natural gas-fired resources, and build close to 80 GW of mostly solar, wind, and battery storage.” 

There is nothing wrong with renewable energy sources like wind and solar, but leaders need to wake up and realize that these power sources are nowhere near as reliable as fossil fuels, like coal and natural gas, or nuclear power. The American people need and want constant power generation. If they force everyone onto renewable energy, they create more blackouts.