American Experiment Releases Groundbreaking New Study on the High Cost of Renewable Energy Mandates in Minnesota

[Valin]

Center of the American Experiment

Isaac Orr

Mar. 12 2019

American Experiment is pleased to announce we are releasing a groundbreaking new study detailing the high cost renewable energy mandates in Minnesota. On the 2018 campaign trail, many DFL candidates, including Governor Tim Walz, said they would make obtaining 50 percent of Minnesota’s electricity by 2030 a top priority in their policy platform. Now DFL’ers in Minnesota are pushing their own version of the Green New Deal, mandating that Minnesota must get 100 percent of its electricity from “carbon free” resources by 2050.

Our study found that attempting to achieve a 50 percent renewable energy mandate would cost Minnesota $80.2 billion through 2050, and attempting to go 100 percent renewable with wind, solar, and battery technologies would cost exponentially more. Nuclear power, on the other hand would achieve the same amount of carbon-dioxide free electricity at a much lower cost than wind and solar power. We also looked at the impact of upgrading Minnesota’s existing coal-fired power plants under the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule proposed by the Trump Administration. This rule would allow coal-plants to make efficiency upgrades to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions per unit of electricity generated.

(Snip)

If you thought our mining paper, Unearthing Prosperity,  was long, you’ve got another thing coming.

The executive summary and seven policy recommendations based on our findings are below.

Enacting a 50 percent renewable energy mandate by 2030 would:

(Snip)

[Valin]

Related