Imagine More Energy For Less Cost!

Imagine what would have happened if we had spent the same amount of blood and treasure on clean and efficient fossil fuel1 plants instead of incentivizing the build out of acres upon acres or wind and solar “renewable” power2, we would be so much better off economically and environmentally.

• Building wind and solar required entirely new generation assets, new inverters, interconnections, and in many cases transmission upgrades which include copper wire, towers and easements.

• Improving existing fossil fuel plants (retrofits, efficiency upgrades, emissions controls) uses existing land, grid tie-ins, and much of the existing workforce — meaning far less sunk cost in infrastructure.

• On a cost per kWh added or improved, retrofitting fossil units is typically far cheaper than greenfield renewables in the early-to-mid 2000s when most wind/solar buildout began. It is still cheaper today.

• Cleaner, more efficient fossil combustion reduces fuel needed per MWh.

• Example: Converting an older steam plant from 33% to 45% efficiency cuts fuel use per kWh by ~27% — that’s immediate savings without adding new grid assets.

• Less fuel per unit of electricity = less upward price pressure on fuels.

• Because fossil fuel demand would drop due to efficiency gains, the price of oil and gas would likely be lower than today — assuming the same capital was deployed effectively.

• Renewables reduce fossil demand too, but the capital intensity is higher, meaning the “bang for the buck” in avoided fuel consumption is lower compared to upgrading existing combustion tech.

• Fossil retrofits don’t require backup generation the way intermittent renewables do, so you avoid costs for storage or reserve plants.

• You keep using existing dispatchable power, which means grid balancing costs stay low.

If we treat the problem purely as:

“Spend $X to reduce emissions and/or fossil fuel burn”
…then in the 2000–2020 period, spending that money on fossil plant upgrades would have been more cost-effective per MWh than building the equivalent capacity in renewables.

• You avoid massive new infrastructure outlays.

• You get immediate reductions in fuel costs.

• You stabilize the grid without added balancing/storage costs.

• Result: Lower total system cost → Lower average price of energy.