Jim Winkle - affordable renewable electricity

Affordable Renewable Electricity is Here!

by Jim Winkle (updated 10-Sep-2021)

Climate change (global warming, more severe storms, etc.) is emerging as one of the most important issues of our time. One of the largest causes of climate change is electricity usage because coal-fired power plants are collectively the largest source of greenhouse gases in the U.S.

Fortunately, there are three ways to easily and affordably use 100% renewable electricity in Madison, Wisconsin, and most other cities, too. Even if you don't believe climate change is caused by the use of fossil fuels, using renewable energy is a great way -- perhaps the ONLY way -- for our country to attain energy independence!

Buy green power from our utility Madison Gas & Electric (MG&E). This revamped program (mostly wind energy, some solar) is available and costs 1 penny more per kWh than electricity produced by coal; the average consumer will spend $6 per month extra for 100% renewable energy, less if you conserve. (They initially tripled the size of their wind farm to accommodate anticipated demand; kudos to them for taking the lead on this!) The vast majority of Wisconsin utilities now offer the option of purchasing renewable energy (although the prices differ). If your utility doesn't offer anything like this, ask them why, and purchase carbon offsets instead (see next item). Either way, this requires no up-front costs, is pretty affordable, and is very simple to do.
Use a third party company who will put green energy on the grid on your behalf or otherwise offset your contribution to climate change (e.g. by planting trees). Two such companies are Native and Clean Choice Energy.
But there is a less expensive option.... buy your own solar. This is the least expensive option in the long run, but has high up-front costs. After you finish this short article, be sure to read my detailed article which explains how we decided that going solar made sense. UW-Madison (my former employer) also wrote an article about our solar, and took a cool photo.

People who purchase a hybrid car often do so to reduce their contribution to greenhouse gases and save money. But keeping your existing car and spending those dollars on renewable electricity actually makes more sense.

Why? Cars are certainly a big contributor to greenhouse gases, but for the average energy consumer, electricity is even bigger. And the difference to the environment between improving your mileage vs. eliminating your emissions from electricity is very large. As a bonus, buying your own solar will help your pocketbook more than driving a hybrid; you'll save more money with solar in the long run.

Thanks for reading; please let me know if it was helpful!

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