As a preface to this post, I must note that for philosophical and analytical reasons, I reject the dominant role of economics and reliance on markets in public policy decisions, particularly on energy and climate issues.
Morally, we have no right to threaten the future of civilization, which is where we are headed in the accelerating climate catastrophe.
The natural world has inherent values that transcend market economics and human utility.
Markets also undermine democracy and equity (and beauty, truth and meaning).
Technically, there are multiple “market failures” that destroy the foundational assumptions of the market model: – e.g. price signals ignore externalities; public goods; monopoly; corporate power; captured role of government; regulatory, technical and information barriers to effective competition; advertising and the myth of the sovereign consumer; private property rights; et al. And on top of all that, there is a huge concentration of wealth and power that discredit market solutions:
Neoliberals want to continue with the same old policies: more fiscal austerity; more reliance on markets (carbon trading—that is, using the price system to try to resolve a problem created by the price system); more half measures;
With that said, let’s get to the topic of this post.
For months – years even – NJ Spotlight and other NJ media outlets have run countless stories about the multi-billion cost of off shore wind and how that would bankrupt the state, drive out jobs and private investment, and regressively harm poor people who can’t afford high energy costs.
We got similar exaggerations of the costs of RGGI, but far less coverage – and crocodile tears – for the ratepayer costs of the nuclear bailout, the guarantee of revenues and profits from reductions in energy demand due to energy efficiency, or the cumulative costs – including the social costs of carbon – of all the proposed and current gas pipelines and gas power plants. How much does all that cost?
Well, last Friday, BPU approved the first 1,100 MW off shore wind project and subsidies.
So, let’s check out the cost, in terms of ratepayer impacts.
For New Jersey ratepayers, however, the actual cost paid will be far less — $46.46 MWh — when the energy and capacity revenue produced by the wind farm is refunded to utility customers. It means the estimated monthly impact will be an increase of $1.46 for residential, $13.05 for commercial, and $110.10 for industrial customers, according to the state Board of Public Utilities, which approved the project on Friday.
Peanuts!
The credibility of those who grossly exaggerated the cost of wind is shot, no?