Why doesn’t CPS Energy spend the $5.2 billion for STP Units 3 and 4 on renewable resources?
CPS Energy estimates it will spend $2.6 billion on renewable resources over the next decade. But, renewable resources will not meet San Antonio’s need for 24/7 baseload generation. Although there are no fuel costs associated with renewable energy, these resources are not available at all times. If the wind isn’t blowing, we can’t receive wind energy, and if the sun isn’t shining, we cannot harness the sun’s energy. And there is still no large-scale way to store energy. We must have reliable sources to meet our customers’ electrical needs at all times—especially on hot summer afternoons when the demand for energy is highest. In addition, due to the lower energy production from renewable resources such as solar, a $5.2 billion investment in solar photovoltaic panels would generate only 20 to 25 percent of the energy that would be produced from a comparable investment in nuclear energy. This is because solar panels only generate electricity 20 percent of the time, while a nuclear power pl
