On Tuesday, June 20, 2017, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) announced the publication of a report touting wind as both a cost-effective and a reliable source of energy for the electricity grid. The report--which was supported with AWEA funding and written by the Analysis Group--presents energy-source diversity on the grid as a necessary good and wind's emergence as a product of market forces. IER's initial response can be found here and today we will follow up with an addendum from IER's chief economist, Dr. Robert Murphy. Murphy's commentary can be read below:The Analysis Group report illustrates the familiar two-step in current energy policy debates. On the one hand, it is considered critical to keep in place measures such as state-based Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and federal measures such as the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and the so-called Clean Power Plan (CPP). On the other hand, when critics object to the distortions that these measures cause, the defenders rush to claim that these policies have very little impact on the energy sector, because the major changes are all driven by market fundamentals. So which is it? If most of the changes really are driven by the market, then the interventionists shouldn't defend RPS, PTC, CPP, and so on with such vigor.
