It will be an interesting test of voter gullibility if they fall prey to the Democrats’ latest Jedi mind trick. Democrat lawmakers are bombarding the electorate with the message that electricity is unaffordable. Predictably, they blame fossil fuel costs and corporate profits, never mentioning that recent additions to the rate base in the form of wind, solar, battery, and transmission capacity might be the culprit.
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It is true that the profits of utilities have risen, but only due to rate base increases and not increases in guaranteed return on equity (Profits = Return on Equity x Equity Rate Base). So, if you increase the rate base with the massive addition of renewable capacity, utility profits will rise. By focusing voter attention on utility profits, Democrats hope to deflect attention away from the cost of the renewables that they have promoted over the last decade.
More Than 50% of New U.S. Electric Generating Capacity Will Come from Solar in 2025https://t.co/Rmfxuzt8JY
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— CleanTechnica (@cleantechnica) August 22, 2025
(That graph can also be found here.)
This goes back to my primary objection to renewables. Renewable power sources, like wind and solar, are not a substitute for firm, dispatchable thermal power sources. You end up with three sources of power performing poorly a job that was done quite well by one prior to the addition of renewables. The capital and fuel cost of three power sources (wind, solar, and thermal) far exceeds the capital and fuel cost of one (thermal). (Read Cross-Regional Analysis of Renewable and Dispatchable Energy Sources for more detail.)
The affordability of electricity is the Democrats’ Achilles Heel. For years they have promised voters that renewables will drive down the cost of electricity because wind and sunlight are free, and now when the opposite has happened, they need a scapegoat, and corporate greed is the most convenient one.
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