John Hinderaker:
In Minnesota, where I live, our governor has just signed a Blackout Bill modeled on California’s, except that it applies only to electricity, not virtually all energy. Unlike California, Minnesota did not even attempt a feasibility study, nor did it make a cost estimate. The wind and solar mandate was enacted, blind. Only one study has analyzed the cost and feasibility of the Minnesota mandate. It estimated the cost at $313 billion, which is a conservative number, in part because it assumes constant prices for the vast quantities of raw materials (copper, cobalt, lithium, etc.) that would be required. That study also found that even after spending $313 billion, Minnesota would not be able to meet its electricity needs reliably.
And,
The DFL’s Blackout Bill, requiring that all electricity be produced by wind and solar energy by 2040, has now been signed into law by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. The bill’s proponents have not offered any estimate of its cost to ratepayers, nor have they produced a feasibility study purporting to show that 100% wind and solar electricity can reliably power our state.
# posted by Ranger @ 9:43 PM
