Trust science. Vote for Guinn Unger for the LPEA board.
Many believe that renewable energy is available only if the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. Wrong, both solar and wind energies can be stored in batteries. We can draw the energy we need at night and with no wind.
Unger is familiar with the falling price of storage, and recognizes its potential to dramatically cut our very high demand charges.
Too many believe renewables are too expensive. Wrong. Cost for solar and wind power in Colorado are now substantially below the cost of our current electricity provider’s product. Coal is no longer the economic energy choice for electricity generation. Our electricity provider, Tri-State, could save over $600 million through 2030 by closing existing coal plants, and our consumers would save $2.5 billion.
High operational costs of coal are passed on to electric customers. Renewables are not only viable and less expensive. They also provide us with more local control. If our power is produced locally, our residents can access needed electricity, sheltered from the threat of cyber and other attacks, as well as from natural disasters such as avalanche and wildfire that can destroy long transmission lines.
As prices for solar panels, wind turbines and battery storage sharply decrease, Unger wants to transition from dirty energy ASAP.
Our region is highly vulnerable to environmental impacts of fossil fuel combustion. It suffices to remember our recently reduced snowpack, stream flows, drought and wildfires.
Ruth WeinfeldDurango
