Spain Cuts Green Energy Losses

A second post of the day on Spain's events

May be overkill - may contain advice on how to extract ourselves from our own mess

Spain Cuts Green Energy Losses | The American Interest: 

Spain is the latest European country to regret its foray into green energy production. On Friday the Spanish government announced some contentious reforms to its regime of green energy subsidies, which were among the most generous in Europe.
...power utilities will suffer and banks will probably have to write off millions in bad loans to solar companies, but the government had few alternatives:

“The measures in this reform aren’t easy for anyone, but they’re absolutely necessary,” [Industry Minister Jose Manuel] Soria said at a press conference in Madrid today. “If we did nothing, the only two alternatives would either be bankruptcy of the system or an increase of the price to consumers of more than 40 percent.”

While environmentalists will no doubt be upset, Spain made the clear choice. High electricity rates are an unnecessary and regressive tax on citizens and a serious drag on industry, and green energy has yet to prove itself competitive without substantial subsidies. Spain is right to cut its losses on its costly green energy boondoggle and to refocus its limited resources on the country’s more pressing problems.

The entire article may be read at The American Interest
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