New NREL Study Says Costs for Western Renewables Could Narrow by 2025
A new Energy Department study conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) indicates that by 2025, wind and solar power electricity generation could become cost competitive without federal subsidies, if new renewable-energy development occurs in the most productive locations.
The report, “Beyond Renewable Portfolio Standards: An Assessment of Regional Supply and Demand Conditions Affecting the Future of Renewable Energy in the West,” compares the cost of renewable electricity generation (without federal subsidy) from the West’s most productive renewable-energy resource areas—including any needed transmission and integration costs—with the cost of energy from a new natural gas-fired generator built near the customers it serves.