Why lobbyists are suddenly telling all sorts of scare stories about solar energy

[The Barbarian]

The US electricity sector is in a period of unprecedented change and turmoil. Renewable energy prices are falling like crazy. Natural gas production continues its extraordinary surge. Coal, the golden child of the current administration, is headed down the tubes.

In all that bedlam, it’s easy to lose sight of an equally important (if less sexy) trend: Demand for electricity is stagnant.

Thanks to a combination of greater energy efficiency, outsourcing of heavy industry, and customers generating their own power on site, demand for utility power has been flat for 10 years, and most forecasts expect it to stay that way. The die was cast around 1998, when GDP growth and electricity demand growth became “decoupled”:

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/2/27/17052488/electricity-demand-utilities

What's going to happen when they find out that Trump can't do a thing to stop the trend?

 

[The Barbarian]

Only a quarter of the decline in coal is due to natural gas. The rest is due to increased efficiency amd non-carbon energy sources.

 

[The Berean]

What sorts of scary stories about solar are being told?

 

[The Barbarian]

What sorts of scary stories about solar are being told?

For example, there's the "manufacturing solar cells will destroy the environment."

And "if there's a power outage, solar power might electrocute workers repairing it."

Stuff like that.