Wind and solar are still more expensive because they require back-up generating/storage capacity for when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow and they require dramatic increases in the national electricity transmission infrastructure.
Today states decide how and when to permit electricity transmission lines and can consider how new transmission lines affect their power supply and their electricity costs when they decide whether to permit them or not. Manchin’s “Permitting Fix” would transfer this authority to the government (FERC).
The bill allows FERC to force the costs of transmitting electricity with broad discretion to socialize costs based on “reasonably anticipated benefits,” however it defines them, such as reducing CO2 emissions. This means that FERC can decide which states have to bear the costs which can result in states with nuclear and fossil fuel (cheap) power to subsidize states that are developing expensive power sources (wind and solar.)
What could go wrong?
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