Energy Capital Podcast

Shortcast: Solar Jobs Are Not "Fentanyl Jobs"


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Anti-energy crusaders have a lot of facts wrong. I’ll break that down in this video.

They’re also personally insulting the hard-working men and women in the renewable energy industry, calling solar jobs “fentanyl jobs.”

They should apologize to the hard-working Americans helping to make our grid stronger every day.

The ERCOT CEO told the Board earlier this week that solar and storage has strengthened our grid. Our risk of an energy emergency went from 16% one year to ago to 0.5% this year “because of the contributions of new resources on the grid.” Those resources are solar & storage. I show all of this in the video, which you can also watch on YouTube.

I also covered a couple of the biggest problems haters of renewable energy and storage have: (1) They can’t credibly deny the benefits of renewables and storage, and (2) Where’s the alternative power going to come from if you limit renewables and storage?

We have rising demand. If Congress lessens supply, what happens to prices?

I wrote recently about how abruptly ending the clean energy tax credits will hurt our efforts to win the AI race and is actually Energy Submission to China. I also wrote about how short-sighted energy policy will raise costs, causing Energy Inflation for consumers of all kinds.

The best way to handle the clean energy tax credits is a predictable ramp down of the tax credits — not a cliff.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

* How Texas slashed outage risk by 95% thanks to solar and battery storage

* Why gas is not the fastest way to add power even though some people continue to falsely insist it is

* How fossil fuel companies are using renewables to cut costs

* The simple math of supply, demand, and rising prices without a credible backup plan

📺 Watch on YouTube:

Why It Matters:

* Demand is up 25% since 2021: rapid growth not seen since the ’60s

* Without tax credits, supply tightens, prices go up, and grid reliability suffers

* Gas turbines aren’t coming fast enough, nuclear is years away

Seriously, over the next 4-5 years, where is the power going to come from if not from wind, solar, and storage? It’s not a rhetorical question and they can’t answer it.

They’ve said LNG power plants, but those don’t exist. They’ve said nuclear but that’s 2030’s at best. They’ve said gas plants, but good luck getting a turbine.

Final Thought

If policymakers want to kill clean energy incentives, they need a plan to replace the power. Because without one, consumers will pay more, grid reliability will suffer, and elected officials will face a backlash.



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Energy Capital PodcastBy Doug Lewin

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