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Sunday, February 5th, 2017

U.S. utilities seek solar power as Trump sides with coal, fossil fuels

Author:    
Source:     Los Angeles Times/Associated Press
Publication Date:     4 February
 Link: U.S. utilities seek solar power as Trump sides with coal, fossil fuels
Stephan:   Centralized carbon energy is fighting back, with Trump as their ally. America is choosing to stay with carbon while the rest of the world moves on. What do you think? Wise move?  No I don't think so either. Almost everything the Trump administration is doing is designed to serve the old and entrenched at the cost of millions of news job, and trillions of dollars in saved costs, thus assuring our decline

Solar power represents only about 1% of the electricity U.S. utilities generate.
Credit:Jim Mone / Associated Press

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA — The plunging cost of solar power is leading U.S. electric companies to capture more of the sun just when President Donald Trump is moving to boost coal and other fossil fuels.

Solar power represents just about 1% of the electricity U.S. utilities generate today, but that could grow substantially as major electric utilities move into smaller-scale solar farming, a niche developed by local cooperatives and nonprofits.

It’s both an opportunity and a defensive maneuver: Sunshine-capturing technology has become so cheap, so quickly, that utilities are moving to preserve their core business against competition from household solar panels.

“Solar growth is so extensive and has so much momentum behind it that we’re at the point where you can’t put the genie back in the bottle,” said Jeffrey R.S. Brownson, a Pennsylvania State University professor who studies solar adoption. “You either learn how to work with this new medium, […]

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1 Comment

  1. Mark R on Sunday, February 5, 2017 at 5:55 am

    Good article. This supports what I have stated previously, solar will not be stopped now – regardless of the stupidity of government policy and subsidies. The train has left the station and its not coming back.