• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
BP Predicts Faster Oil and Gas Decline as Clean Energy Spending Hits $1.1T in 2022 January 31, 2023
Canada Needs Oil and Gas Emissions Cap to Hit 2030 Goal: NZAB January 31, 2023
Ecuador’s Amazon Drilling Plan Shows Need for Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty January 31, 2023
Rainforest Carbon Credits from World’s Biggest Provider are ‘Largely Worthless’, Investigation Finds January 31, 2023
Danske Bank Quits New Fossil Fuel Financing January 23, 2023
Next
Prev

Trump Officials Boast as U.S. Hits Obama Solar Target Three Years Early

September 17, 2017
Reading time: 3 minutes

Department of Energy/Flickr

Department of Energy/Flickr

 

The United States has reached President Barack Obama’s low-cost solar target three years early, bringing photovoltaic-generated electricity in at around US$1 per watt or 6¢ per kilowatt-hour, with senior Trump administration officials taking a victory lap for an achievement they’d previously derided as costly and wasteful.

“With the impressive decline in solar prices, it is time to address additional emerging challenges,” declared Daniel Simmons, acting assistant secretary for the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). “As we look to the future, DOE will focus new solar R&D on [Energy Secretary Rick Perry]’s priorities, which include strengthening the reliability and resilience of the electric grid while integrating solar energy.”

  • The climate news you need. Subscribe now to our engaging new weekly digest.
  • You’ll receive exclusive, never-before-seen-content, distilled and delivered to your inbox every weekend.
  • The Weekender: Succinct, solutions-focused, and designed with the discerning reader in mind.
New!
Subscribe

This would be the same Daniel Simmons, EcoWatch notes, who not too long ago warned that solar and wind were “expensive and will increase the price of electricity,” when he worked for the Koch-affiliated Institute for Energy Research. And some of Simmons’ allies outside the administration were still singing that tune.

“I don’t know why they are touting it,” complained Heritage Foundation Vice President Jack Spencer. “I think it should be abolished right away, as should all government subsidies.” [Sure, let’s get right on that! Including these, these, and these? – Ed.)

Bloomberg notes the Trump team is “taking credit for this milestone even though the new administration is skeptical of renewable power,” after proposing to cut EERE funding by 70%. “Surprisingly,” EcoWatch reports, “EERE announced new initiatives instead, and is putting [forward] $82 million in funding for early-stage research toward concentrating solar power and power electronics technologies,” toward a new goal of 3¢/kWh for utility-scale solar by 2030.

The announcement prompted the Washington Post to produce this primer on concentrating solar (h/t to The Energy Mix subscriber Diane Beckett for first pointing us to the story).

In a review of solar’s current pricing and near-term prospects in the U.S., Ars Technica notes that the $1 per watt/6¢ per kWh calculation is based on prices in Kansas City, a community that DOE sees as a “mid-range yardstick” between the more expensive New York City market and more sun-drenched Phoenix, Arizona. “Those prices don’t include an Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which makes solar panels even cheaper,” but they do reflect total installed system costs, including profits on sales of the hardware.

In its latest assessment, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory saw utility-scale solar costs falling 29% between the first quarters of 2016 and 2017, based on “lower photovoltaic module and inverter prices, better panel efficiency, and reduced labour costs,” Ars Technica notes.



in Energy / Carbon Pricing & Economics

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Ken Teegardin www.SeniorLiving.Org/flickr
Clean Electricity Grid

Virtual Power Plants Hit an ‘Inflection Point’

January 31, 2023
125
EcoAnalytics
Media, Messaging, & Public Opinion

Albertans Want a Just Transition, Despite Premier’s Grumbling

January 23, 2023
323
Climate Denial & Greenwashing

Exxon Had the Right Global Warming Numbers Through Decades of Denial: Study

January 17, 2023
229

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Mike Mozart/Flickr

BP Predicts Faster Oil and Gas Decline as Clean Energy Spending Hits $1.1T in 2022

January 31, 2023
324
François GOGLINS/wikimedia commons

Corrosion Problem Shutters Half of France’s Nuclear Reactors

August 2, 2022
3.3k
Joshua Doubek/Wikipedia

No New Jobs Came from Alberta’s $4B ‘Job Creation’ Tax Cut for Big Oil

October 6, 2022
501
Sam Balto/YouTube

Elementary School’s Bike Bus Brings ‘Sheer Joy’ to Portland Neighbourhood

October 16, 2022
259
Lucio Santos/flickr

Canadian Banks Increased Fossil Investment in 2021, Report Card Shows

November 27, 2022
115
EcoAnalytics

Albertans Want a Just Transition, Despite Premier’s Grumbling

January 23, 2023
323

Recent Posts

Gina Dittmer/PublicDomainPictures

Canada Needs Oil and Gas Emissions Cap to Hit 2030 Goal: NZAB

January 31, 2023
196
CONFENIAE

Ecuador’s Amazon Drilling Plan Shows Need for Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty

January 31, 2023
61
Ken Teegardin www.SeniorLiving.Org/flickr

Virtual Power Plants Hit an ‘Inflection Point’

January 31, 2023
125
/snappy goat

Rainforest Carbon Credits from World’s Biggest Provider are ‘Largely Worthless’, Investigation Finds

January 31, 2023
94
Victorgrigas/wikimedia commons

World Bank Climate Reforms Too ‘Timid and Slow,’ Critics Warn

January 31, 2023
42
Doc Searls/Twitter

Guilbeault Could Intervene on Ontario Greenbelt Development

January 31, 2023
132
Next Post
SNAP Quebec/Facebook

Conservationists Cheer as Quebec Cancels 850-MW Hydro Project

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}