The Coal Powered Electrification Agenda: Joe Trotter on In The Dugout

ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Director Joe Trotter joined Mike Stenhouse on In The Dugout to discuss the realities behind the recent push to shut down reliable energy sources before the existing power grid is ready to make up the difference.

I took a look at Vermont but also sort of a wider trend which is trying to electrify absolutely everything and by that I mean heat pumps to heat your water, keep you warm during the winter, cars, no more gas stoves even though they’re cheaper and cheaper in the long run and personally I prefer cooking on them.

But (my report) looks at two things: one a PJM report which covers 13 states in terms of the of the electric grid and it takes look Vermont and the electric grid up in the Northeast in the New England area. Now Vermont is a very interesting state in that they have a very high renewable portfolio standard which basically just means they have to use renewable resources to power the grid and they have the highest RPS in the country where they’re aiming for 50% of the grid to be runoff of these renewables. They took their one nuclear reactor off-line and they have a whole lot of solar, a whole lot of hydro, but they import most their electricity from out of state and actually from out of the country. A lot of it comes from Canada but they did the thing that really got me is where the rest of that energy comes from and it’s mainly wood.

Watch the entire interview here.