President Donald Trump kicked off an affordability tour in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, and among the concerns he’s discussing at the events is the cost of energy. [some emphasis, links added]
It’s a big concern for Americans. A recent poll conducted by Ipsos, a marketing research and consulting firm, found that 73% of U.S. residents were concerned about increases in their electricity and gas bills this year.
A new analysis by Always On Energy Research and the Institute for Energy Research shows that residents of blue states see higher electricity bills than those in red states, [largely because] blue states have stricter renewable energy policies.
Presidential preference and energy rates
Using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the analysis found that 86% of states with electricity prices above the national average in the continental U.S. voted for a Democratic nominee for president in the 2020 and 2024 elections, while 80% of those who voted for a Republican nominee in those years had the lowest electricity prices.
The correlation between [presidential voter preferences] and electricity prices is interesting, but it doesn’t prove a causal relationship.
To get closer to the cause, the analysis highlights five states: California, Florida, Louisiana, Kentucky, and New York.
Blue state mandates
New York has one of the most aggressive climate laws in the U.S., which requires the state to produce 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and 100% by 2040.
Electricity rates in the state are 58% higher than the national average.
Added to that, New York shut down the Indian Point nuclear power plant, banned fracking, and denied permits for needed gas pipelines.
While restricting the supply of electricity, the state also has building electrification mandates, which increase demand. In addition, ratepayers effectively pay a tax on carbon dioxide emissions, part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
California is on a similar trajectory, with renewable mandates, nuclear plant closures, and programs that allow homeowners with rooftop solar to sell their excess electricity back to the grid.
Residents of the Golden State pay double the national average electricity rate.
The state currently has a target for 100% renewable energy by 2045. As it shifts its grid to run primarily on intermittent energy sources, it’s also mandating that all cars sold in the state be electric by 2035.
This will add further demand for electricity on the state’s grid.
Red state fossil fuels
Florida’s electricity rates, by comparison, are 2% below the national average. Florida set a goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050. But last year, Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law that began repealing the mandate.
The state currently gets 75% of its power from natural gas.
Louisiana has the third-lowest electricity rate in the U.S. and gets 73% of its generation from natural gas turbines. It also hasn’t attempted to implement renewable energy goals.
Likewise, Kentucky’s electricity rates are 21% lower than the national average. The state gets 67% of its electricity from coal and 26% from natural gas, and it also has no renewable energy requirements.
Read rest at Just The News
Higher Fuel Rates in all Blue/Democrat States
Of the 10 U.S. states that get the highest percentage of electricity from wind and solar, 9 have average or below average electricity prices.
Of the 10 U.S. states that have the largest percentage of their electricity generated from wind and solar, six currently have Republican governors.
Programs like tax credits, cap and trade, and other tax payer funded subsidies artificially lower the price of renewable energy.
We have to remember since the wind doesn’t blow all the time as well as the sun being limited, require that renewable energy have fossil fuel back up. The capitalization and maintenance of these plants adds to the cost of renewable energy.
It has always been a head-scratcher why states like NY and Cal would purposely shut down nuclear power plants that generate large amounts of base-level electricity while creating zero CO2, that dastardly gas that they are sure is going to destroy the world. Instead they are being duped into thinking that intermittent electricity producing sources like solar (will never generate electricity at night) and wind (also generates no electricity when the wind isn’t blowing). On top of that the amount of land that must be taken over by these monstrosities is enormous, land that used to be used for farming or was covered by forests while a nuclear plant takes up a few acres of land and can generate 1,000GW of electricity 24×7 year round.