The dark side of “Green”: tens of thousands of lost jobs & more Oregonians who can’t pay their electric bills

Oregon Transformation

A study just released by Cascade Policy Institute & Beacon Hill predicts that the effect of renewable energy policies in Oregon is a net loss of tens of thousands of jobs. With increasing fossil fuel prices, Oregon has turned to green energy to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and our carbon footprint. That effort comes with a price. “Just a few years ago, 1 in 20 Oregonians couldn’t pay their electric bills and had their electricity shut off. We will continue to see this rate increase as more renewable energy is forced onto the grid,” says Todd Wynn of Cascade Policy Institute.

Oregon’s Green Industry may cost the state more than 20,000 jobs

For the past several years, Oregon has been focused on the “Green Energy” movement, hoping that large scale government subsidy of renewable energy projects will produce a significant number of “green jobs” in this state.

So how is the “Green Jobs” movement faring?

A recent Oregonian article states that despite millions of tax dollars being funneled into this industry, our government cannot tell us with any certainty how many jobs have been created and/or will be created in Oregon.

Is this because the state has no way of tracking that information, or is it because the renewable energy program itself has the effect of eliminating more jobs than the subsidies create?

Why would it eliminate jobs? Well, “green” energy is far more expensive than energy produced from traditional sources. Requiring “green” energy raises the electricity bills of households and businesses.

This causes job losses in other sectors of the economy.

A study just released by Cascade Policy Institute & Beacon Hill predicts that the effect of renewable energy policies in Oregon is a net loss of tens of thousands of jobs. Here’s what the report says:

“Oregon’s ratepayers will face higher electricity prices which will increase their cost of living, which will in turn put downward pressure on households’ disposable income. By 2025, the Oregon economy would shed 17,530 jobs [average], within a range of 10,025 and 24,630 jobs.”

With an unemployment rate in Oregon of just over 10%, can we afford to continue our current renewable energy policies when they could possibly be adding to our jobless number?

Sources:
http://cascadepolicy.org/news/2011/03/10/newstudyforcingoregonianstopurchaserenewableenergyprovescostly/
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/03/how_many_jobs_from_oregons_gre.html

The ideas may be green, but we may be seeing red

In 2007, Oregon passed Senate Bill 838, which mandates that 25% of the energy being provided by utility companies comes from renewable resources by 2025.

We have been striving for alternative energy sources like biofuel and wind power, but what kind of return have we taxpayers been getting on our investment?

As reported in the Oregonian on March 14, 2011 ‐‐ not much. One example is Cascade Grains, a biofuel startup company that received $12 million of our tax dollars only to go bankrupt and out of business.

Another example is Horizon Wind Energy, which received $11 million in tax credits only to produce 36 fulltime jobs. That’s a price tag of $305,555 per job.

Not only does it seem to be costing us millions to make green energy mainstream, but once that goal is achieved, how will that affect our energy bills?

According to a report just published by Cascade Policy Institute & Beacon Hill, our rates have already increased to accommodate SB 838. As of January 2011, PGE raised its rates an average of 4.2% per household and Pacific Power had an increase of 14.5%.

This chart shows projected upcoming increases in electricity bills for 2015‐2025.

The report also projects that our energy bills will have an average 24% increase by 2025 as a direct result of SB 838 – at a cost to consumers of $6.81 Billion.

With increasing fossil fuel prices, Oregon has turned to green energy to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and our carbon footprint. That effort comes with a price.

“Just a few years ago, 1 in 20 Oregonians couldn’t pay their electric bills and had their electricity shut off. We will continue to see this rate increase as more renewable energy is forced onto the grid,” says Todd Wynn of Cascade Policy Institute.

Does it make sense to trade this much of our disposable income and economic potential for renewable energy mandates?

Sources:

http://cascadepolicy.org/news/2011/03/10/newstudyforcingoregonianstopurchaserenewableenergyprovescostly/
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/03/how_many_jobs_from_oregons_gre.html
http://cascadepolicy.org/pdf/201139RPSreport.pdf”>http://cascadepolicy.org/pdf/201139RPSreport.pdf