Don’t buy the hype on solar power

Tom Keller, Henderson

Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014 | 2:01 a.m.

Jim Woodruff’s Tuesday column, “Solar industry just fine in Nevada,” is a desperate sales pitch for an industry whose unaffordable economics are finally being recognized. He touts the short-term benefits of construction jobs and property taxes, and praises the clean, cost-effective and reliable energy these projects supposedly provide.

But based on contracts for projects already built or under construction, the cost of the electricity will be two to three times what it costs for power generated by natural gas and coal. That represents billions of dollars taken out of the local economy over the life of these contracts, costing thousands of permanent jobs and dwarfing the short-term benefits of plant construction.

Add in the fact that solar plants must be backed up with gas and coal power because they can only produce power during the day and only on clear days, and it’s no wonder solar power is falling out of favor.