Before Trump takes over and the GOP tries once again to misinform Americans about how renewable energy raises electric bills sky high, here’s the latest research.
The study, “Cleaning Up Our Act on Energy and Reaping the Benefits,” by the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC), shows that electric bills are lowest in states that aggressively embrace energy efficiency and renewable energy. And it shows that states with the highest electric bills – and pollution – are those that refuse to invest.
Furthermore, investing in renewables means stable electric rates, rather than the wild swings in fossil fuel prices.
Iowa is a great example, where wind now supplies 31% of electricity. Residents pay only 0.6 cents more per kilowatt hour (adjusted for inflation) than in 2000. And Californians’ pay just $4.25 a month more since 1990 because of a combination of renewables and efficiency. But Wyoming residents pay $16 more a month than they did in 1990 because they depend solely on fossil fuels.
Iowa will soon run on 40% wind when the utility finishes its next huge wind project. Oh, and it also brings $11.8 billion and 6000 jobs to Iowa’s economy, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).
Read our article, More Wind Energy Means Lower Electricity Prices.
In terms of energy efficiency, people who live in the five least-efficient states have seen electric bills increase twice as much as those in the five most efficient states.
On the federal level, higher efficiency standards for over 60 kinds of appliances and equipment saved $63 billion on utility bills in 2015 alone. These energy savings, along with those from building energy codes, have also cut the costs of constructing and running the electric grid, notes Ralph Cavanagh of NRDC. And thanks to efficiency, when coal plants shut down they often don’t even need to be replaced.
Read our article, Which States Have the Cheapest Electricity? Those With the Most Renewable Energy.
Here’s the report:
Click to access clean-up-energy-reap-benefits-ib.pdf
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