What Donald Trump's Presidency Means For The Green Energy Sector

America’s power grids need more of everything.

For decades, electric generation has simply kept pace with the nation’s economic growth. That's set to change as cloud computing giants ramp up construction of data centers to meet demand for online services like artificial intelligence leader OpenAI’s ChatGPT. In other words, electric generation must now grow faster than the economy. Utility company AEP anticipates robust demand growth, particularly in states like Indiana, where it projects as much as a 60% increase in commercial electricity demand in coming years, mostly from data centers, like the $11 billion project Amazon is erecting in New Carlisle, the largest capital project in state history.

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[disinformationstation]

I bought my solar system without subsidies. It is so cheap now it was a no brainer.

[AprezaRenaldy]

So why not stop subsidies to oil?Let the market decide

[jperlife]

This guy said 1200 miles on a charge....lol

[harryjvoughtiii]

💲🇺🇸🏛 🔜💰INVESTMENTS INTO NEW USA 🇺🇸 ENERGY SOURCES MUST BE DONE THROUGH PROVEN HEAVILY TESTED SCIENTIFIC🧑‍🔬👨‍💻 and COMMERCIAL🚛🏭 INDUSTRIES TESTING PRACTICES BEFORE ANY 💲USD 💰 FUND GRANTS ARE GIVEN ‼️

[douglasengle]

It's not the percentage of wild AC the public power grid is having to support from wind turbine and solar voltaic generated electricity that is substantially important, but its fuel savings, which is little to non.   In the US the advertised fuel savings for supporting the wild AC from wind turbine and solar voltaic generated electricity by the electric utility grid is 1% each. That number is likely rounded up significantly.

It can use less natural gas to run natural gas turbine generators at high efficiency 85% output where they can make full use of a steam cycle adding 50% higher efficiency making all the electricity than to 100% instantly back up a wind generator farm for the same electrical output to behave as a scheduled power station.

Instant 100% backup requires natural gas turbine generators running at high availability consuming 70% of the fuel of full output, but making little electricity. In fast response peaking applications a second steam cycle made from the hot exhaust can not be used that adds another 50% efficiency.

The practical use for wind turbine and solar voltaic generated electricity is for maintaining electrical energy storage such as charging storage batteries or working with something similar such as hydropower.  

The cheapest incremental electricity is from hydropower and nuclear power. Second to those in the US would be a new ultra supercritical clean coal plant burning high BTU bituminous coal at a predicted crossover fueling cost with natural gas priced at $0.80 per million BTUs in 2022.

US natural gas was priced at an offseason wholesale price in early summer 2024 of $2.50 per million BTUs, three times the fueling cost of the coal plant. This is the cheapest natural gas that could be expected without economic collapse. Winter peak natural gas wholesale prices can be several times higher. The US has some of the lowest cost natural gas in the world.

It is not accurate to state residential electricity cost is greatly the cost of maintaining the power grid as sometimes said. In the US on average only 38% of the generated electricity reaches the residential electric power meter. 62% of the generated electricity on average is lost to grid resistance.

A little less than $0.03 per kWh is average for US midwestern wholesale electricity scheduled 24 hours in advance. That costs $0.03/.38 = $0.078 at the residential meter. Our Cumberland, Indiana residential electricity in 2020 was priced at $0.10 per kWh. The cost verses sale price difference has to maintain the power grid and make some profit. Internally generated electricity should be significantly cheaper.