NEGATIVE PRICES AND "MARKET DISTORTION"
THE RHETORIC: The PTC undermines and distorts price signals in wholesale electricity markets.
THE REALITY: Wind energy reduces electricity costs for consumers by displacing more expensive forms of energy. This impact is entirely market-driven1, is widely seen as beneficial, and occurs for all low-fuel-cost sources of energy, including nuclear.
- The wind Production Tax Credit (PTC) is almost never factored into the electricity market prices that other power plants receive.
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Regardless of whether a wind plant receives the PTC, the wind plant does not have the highest operating cost and therefore does not set the market price.
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Negative electricity prices are extremely rare and are highly localized in remote areas where they have little or no impact on other power plants.
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Across the U.S., much-needed transmission upgrades are eliminating the remaining instances of negative prices.
- Transmission bottlenecks, periods of low demand, and low-priced shale gas combined impact Exelon's nuclear plant revenue 1,450 times more than negative prices2.