Shattering the myth of baseload

By Wallace Taylor

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When supporters of renewable energy explain the benefits of renewable sources and the problems with coal or nuclear power, the electric utilities argue that renewable energy sources will not provide “baseload” power. This is a false argument.

Baseload power is the minimum amount needed to consistently meet the demands of customers. But with the advent of renewable sources, baseload is an outdated concept. What we are talking about is energy and capacity from aggregated sources.

Capacity is the ability to ensure that there will be enough energy to satisfy future needs. The false impression that the utilities create is that one coal-fired power plant or one nuclear plant will provide all of the energy and capacity needed all the time, and that because renewable sources are intermittent, they cannot provide baseload.

The truth is that even traditional power plants (coal, gas, nuclear) are intermittent and sometimes need backup power from other sources on the electric transmission grid. For example, from 2003 to 2007, U.S. coal plants were shut down 12.3 percent of the time; nuclear, 10.6 percent; and gas-fired, 11.8 percent. During these shutdowns, the utilities go to the transmission line grid and obtain power from other sources.

Studies at Stanford University and others have documented that if enough renewable energy sources were brought on line and an adequate transmission and distribution grid were provided, there would be sufficient energy and capacity for customers.

It is not unusual to observe that some, or sometimes most, of the turbines on a large wind farm are not operating. This is because there is inadequate transmission to accommodate all of the energy being produced by the turbines. Just imagine how much energy could be provided from those wind turbines if the utilities would invest in additional transmission lines, rather than new coal or nuclear plants.

Integrating renewable energy sources would be even more dramatic if small-scale wind and solar energy sources were included. But many utilities push the baseload myth because they do not want people to have their own renewable-energy sources and don't want to invest in a 21st century transmission grid.

We need to work toward a sustainable future of renewable energy.

Wallace Taylor is a Cedar Rapids attorney and serves as the Legal Chair of the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter. Comments:

wtaylor784@aol.com