Does Wind ‘Work’ Without Subsidies?

President Donald Trump has repeatedly questioned the economics of wind energy, saying that wind “doesn’t work” without subsidies. Experts have differing assessments of that. 

In the U.S., subsidies have played an important role in building the wind industry, which has grown from supplying almost none of the nation’s electricity in 2000 to almost 7% in 2018. But when it comes to how reliant the industry is on subsidies today, analysts disagree.

By some metrics, wind power is already competitive with fossil fuels without extra financial help. But other measures don’t reach the same conclusion — and projections vary about what will happen to the industry when its biggest subsidy goes away.

The president’s latest comments on wind power subsidies came in a June 29 press conference in Japan during the Group of 20 summit. At the G20, the U.S. inserted language into the leaders’ declaration reiterating its intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. 

The remaining 19 countries, in contrast, reaffirmed their commitment to the accord. Citing the U.S.’s unique position on the issue, a journalist asked the president why he thinks ignoring climate change would be beneficial to Americans.

Trump denied ignoring the issue, and defended his position by asserting, as he has before, that the U.S. has the “cleanest air” — as well as the cleanest air and water “we’ve ever had.”

As we’ve explained previously, the U.S. does not have the cleanest air in the world. Moreover, what’s important with respect to climate change are greenhouse gas emissions, which remain high.

After mentioning clean air and water, Trump then turned his attention to wind turbines.

Trump, June 29: It doesn’t always work with a windmill. When the wind goes off, the plant isn’t working. It doesn’t always work with solar, because solar is just not strong enough.

And a lot of them want to go to wind, which has caused a lot of problems. And, you