Don’t blame renewables for rising electric costs

Dear Editor,

I’ve been enjoying Don Scott’s articles in your paper. But I’m writing to provide another perspective to his recent 100-foot rule opinion piece ("The most regressive tax you've never heard of," Feb. 5, Page 18).

While I agree with him about the rule and Indian Point, his comments about renewables contributing to rate increases need clarification.

What’s actually causing your rates to go up? It’s the voracious needs of AI data centers and the increasing cost of fossil fuels.

The only way to rapidly scale up to provide power for our increasing needs is through renewables. A new gas powered plant takes about five years to build, whereas new solar and wind installations can be built and operational within 18 months.

With renewables, we don’t have to perpetually keep searching for, mining and transporting new oil and gas to NY state, which is becomes perpetually and incredibly costly (to you the ratepayer).

The sun and wind are here every day and once the solar arrays and turbines are built, there’s very little additional cost involved.

It’s vital to the American economy, to creating jobs and to our security that we redirect our attention back to renewables and build them out as rapidly as possible.

One look at any other nation's power profile (even Saudi Arabia is rapidly building out solar) confirms that a mix of or full transition to renewables is the best, cheapest path to power in the future.

Thank you so much, and keep up the good work.

-Pete Friedrich, Mount Kisco