“WIN, WIN, WIN, WIN” - The Power Surge: Energy, Opportunity, and the Battle for America's Future - page 153

Solar power, though, gets a boost. It does best on sunny days, like that
West Texas scorcher, because those are when the demand for electricity
usually skyrockets. h at makes the electricity it supplies unusually valu-
able. Alas, since solar remains considerably more expensive than tradi-
tional fossil fuels, solar remains unable to aggressively and consistently
compete on its own.
Some people suspect that the economic viability of wind and solar
power would change radically if natural gas prices weren't so low as a
result of the shale gas boom: if wind and solar could instead compete
with high-cost natural gas, those technologies would be in much bet er
shape. But the logic isn't as powerful as it might intuitively seem. If natural
gas prices were a lot higher, the competition for renewable energy ot en
wouldn't be high-priced natural gas; it would be the coal-i red power that
cheap gas is currently displacing, still a formidable competitor when it
comes to price. 37 (h ings are slightly more complicated than this—wind
and solar don't compete head to head with coal—but in essence this is
correct.) Odds are strong that simply boosting natural gas prices would,
at least for the next decade if not longer, lead primarily to more coal
power and less electricity use rather than to big growth in wind and solar
power. 38 It might, however, blunt growth in renewable power enough to
stunt incentives and opportunities for developers to create ever-cheaper
alternative energy solutions. h is is a real risk to renewables.
h at said, cheap natural gas can help renewable energy if it's used
properly. h e fact that renewable energy is as unpredictable as the wind
and sun is a big problem. Power plants that use natural gas can easily
be turned on and of to make up for those sudden bursts and shortfalls.
(Coal and nuclear plants can't.) h

is has the potential to help facilitate

growth in wind and solar power.
But even though cheap natural gas isn't the main barrier to triumph
for wind or solar, abundant gas won't be their savior either. Something
else needs to tip the balance for renewables to truly thrive.

m m m

h is takes us back to the debate around Solyndra. h ere's no way to
avoid it: if you want to be assured of really big growth in renewable