Should Rhode Island – or any state – be permitting new gas-fired power plants going forward?

By
-
REALLY NOT NEEDED? The proposed natural gas-fired power plant in Burrillville was rejected over the summer by state regulators after the company proposing to build it, Invenergy, could not prove to the state Energy Facility Siting Board that it was needed. Now a study by the Rocky Mountain Institute questions whether nearly all plants across the nation such as this will be economically feasible at all within a decade and a half, thus supporting more investments in renewable energy. / COURTESY INVENERGY LLC
REALLY NOT NEEDED? The proposed natural gas-fired power plant in Burrillville was rejected over the summer by state regulators after the company proposing to build it, Invenergy, could not prove to the state Energy Facility Siting Board that it was needed. Now a study by the Rocky Mountain Institute questions whether nearly all plants across the nation such as this will be economically feasible at all within a decade and a half, thus supporting more investments in renewable energy. / COURTESY INVENERGY LLC

A study released Sept. 9 said that by 2035 it will be more expensive to operate 90% of natural gas-fired power plants being considered today than it would to put into service renewable energy systems of the same capacity. The continuing fall in price for solar- and wind-energy production, as well as the expectations for industrial-scale battery systems and continuing conservation efforts, would make the drilling and fracking for oil and natural gas not worth the effort in most cases. And the increase in production and storage of energy would make the electrical grid as stable as it is today.

So should Rhode Island be permitting any new gas-fired power plants to be built?

Should Rhode Island – or any state – be permitting new gas-fired power plants to be built going forward?

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

No posts to display