ALEC on WIZM Radio: Unreliable Energy Sources Put People in Danger

ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Director, Joe Trotter, recently joined host Mike Hayes on WIZM radio in La Crosse, WI to talk about regulations that will keep our energy prices high. 

Joe Trotter: One of the biggest problems in regards to these new technologies is making sure that they’re actually hooked up to the grid in an appropriate way. One of the things you see, especially in states like Maryland, it’s got a ton of solar farms, a good amount of wind energy, but they’re not hooked up to the grid in a way that they’re providing the energy when it’s needed. One of the things we are working on at ALEC is a new ALEC model policy on the electrical generation reliability. It says you’ve got to make sure before you take the legacy systems offline that the new systems are up and running and actually able to generate what constituents need.

Mike Hayes: The evidence is clear in states like California, for instance, that are really pushing that envelope, mandating that electric cars be the only cars on the road by, what, 2035?  Then pretty soon, only electric trucks. And then they’ve already begun telling people at home, turn your air conditioner off during peak seasons. Turn it down. Don’t charge your car at this time or that time. That doesn’t sound like energy on demand. It sounds like energy when we tell you it’s available.

Joe Trotter: Yes. There’s a disconnect between reality and what they wish were true, especially in California. You can’t have electric vehicles without there being electricity, and the state is just a mess when it comes to electricity. Right now, they’re having to extend their nuclear power plant lifetime, which is great, as long as it’s safe. They’re having to bring in generators. Mandated chosen technologies aren’t working the way they should, especially during the hottest and the coldest month of the year. People will not be able to charge their cars. It puts people in danger. You don’t have refrigeration, air conditioning, heat, people who use well water pumps, things like that, they need electricity. So going to these systems that aren’t as reliable really actually puts people in danger.

Mike Hayes: Right. Well, then when you have to decide, let’s see, do I charge my car so I can go to work or not charge my car, as the governor suggested, so that I can have air conditioning, but I have to choose. I can either plug in my car or plug in my furnace and be warm this winter, one or the other. The situation doesn’t bode well for the future, and that’s what bothers me more than anything.