Throwing Caution to the Wind on Wind Power
Nicolas Loris /
25 by 2025.
That’s the target proposal for a federally mandated renewable portfolio standard RPS (also called renewable electricity standard RES) in which the federal government would mandate to have 25 percent of the nation’s electricity from renewable energy by 2025 – primarily wind, solar and hydro.
During the Congressional hearings last week, Congressman G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) told Chairman Henry Waxman, “Not only is [a 25% mandate] impractical, it is impossible.”
By creating a federal renewable portfolio standard, the government is essentially forcing costlier, less reliable energy on the people. This is particularly true for certain states, especially those in the Southeast, where the conditions are not conducive to wind power. It’s this unreliability that especially concerns Midwest ISO’s grid manager, Rob Benbow: