Everyone is gushing over the new 15 megawatt solar facility in Milford, the state’s largest solar farm. Before you get too excited for affordable solar power, please consider the following: The facility will add $2 million a year to electric utility bills for participating cities.

A federal tax credit to the solar farm investors will add $15 million to the national debt. The power will be un-reliable and require backup from conventional power plants, wiping out a lot of the advertised environmental benefits. A partly cloudy day can see the solar farm going from full power to no power in as little as eight seconds.

The only reason the park was built is a legal requirement in Delaware that all electric distributors must obtain 3.5 percent of their power from solar by 2025. This is the second highest mandate for states east of the Mississippi and 10 times the average eastern state requirement. The Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation participated in the park as the most cost effective way to meet the law. DEMEC represents nine Delaware cities that have their own electric companies and must meet the solar mandate which goes up each year until 2025.

David T. Stevenson

director

Center for Energy Competitiveness

Caesar Rodney Institute