Finance: More Renewable Energy Does Not Lead to Increase in Cost of Electricity

Does Renewable Energy Raise Electricity Prices? (Renewable Energy World)

By Daniel Fleischmann 

Sunset at Alaşehir 2 - by Tim Dunford, POWER
Engineers, Inc., Hailey, Idaho, USA. Honorable
Mention, 2015 Geothermal Photo Contest

Since the big push from the U.S. government for investment in renewable energy in 2009, we’ve had the opportunity to see how prices have changed between states that have made large investments in renewable energy, and those that have not.

Critics of renewable energy investment say that renewable energy will never be as cost-effective as fossil fuels and could give customers sticker shock. But is that the case?

The average increase in prices between the 20 U.S. states that had the most investment in renewable energy was 4.3 percent, when comparing the average from 2010 to 2015 with the average over the last 18 months. However, for the 20 states that had the least investment in renewable energy, the average increase was 4.6 percent.

Therefore, the impact of renewable energy on the price of power appears to be statistically insignificant. Sticking with fossil fuels has not been a pathway to lower energy prices. And this result challenges critics’ assertions that renewable energy is simply too expensive, while fossil fuels will maintain reliable, inexpensive electricity prices.

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