Hi, I'm Denise, and this is your civic minute.
Here's something worth thinking about.
A coal or natural gas power plant has two costs.
The plant itself and the fuel it burns every day.
When fuel prices spike like they are now,
your electricity bill goes up too
because your utility is paying more for fuel.
A solar farm has one cost building it.
After that, the fuel is free.
Same with wind, and in most of the country,
the plants themselves are cheaper to build
than new coal or gas plants.
That doesn't mean renewables are perfect.
The sun doesn't always shine.
The wind doesn't always blow.
Energy storage is getting cheaper, but it's not free.
But here's what's not debatable.
Every kilowatt hour that comes from a source
with no fuel cost is one that can't be affected
by a war, a pipeline shutdown, or an OPEC decision.
That's not an environmental argument.
That's a price stability argument.
That's your civic minute.
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