Solar now being the cheapest energy source made its rounds on Lemmy some weeks ago, if I remember correctly. I just found this graphic and felt it was worth sharing independently.
Gas peaker? I hardly know her!
It doesn't matter how cheap solar is. Fossil fuels are still more profitable, because once a fossil fuel plant is built, it needs fossil fuel to run. You can't do the same with sunlight. We literally cannot shift away from fossil fuels under the current profit driven model.
Then there's California where NEM 3.0 makes it less than worth while to install or upgrade your existing solar installation.
There's a lot more nuance to this than most people will admit.
Net metering is 100% unsustainable, when renewables become a big enough chunk of the grid generation mix, they often generate when no one needs the power. Forcing the grid to accept that power and even pay the homeowner a premium for it is a perverse incentive. Effectively what it does is allow solar array owners to avoid paying to maintain a grid they still use, and since the rich trend to go solar first, the poor are left holding the bag to maintain the grid for everyone.
Unless you’re in California, where the second highest utility rates in the US exists and solar benefits are being capped by the state.
13% utility increase next year, a 95% increase in utility costs since 2014!
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