When it comes to solar farms and renewable energy, it’s easy to think that conservatives have lower interest in these topics than liberals, and while this is partly true, also, conservatives really love solar farms. How is this possible?
According to a report by Bloomberg, red states tend to benefit more from solar farms than other states: “When you look at renewable energy, the reddest Republican areas are the ones that are benefiting the most,” said Nick Cohen, chief executive of Doral Renewables to Bloomberg. This is because of some predisposition that certain states have for solar farms, as the case of Indiana and Ohio.
Indiana and Ohio –both of them Republican-led states– are having a boom of solar farms, and by 2027 these states will only be behind the solar power of Texas and California.
Solar power has low cost and promises to create a lot of jobs, this combined with the fact that both Indiana and Ohio have flat farmlands make solar farms really attractive. Across these states there are 23 solar farms sage projects, and each farm could generate more than 300 megawatts of power.
Solar energy is also cheaper than gas plants in both states. In Ohio, utility-scale solar costs less than half the price of an efficient natural gas plant, including taxes for renewables. In Indiana, solar energy is more than a third cheaper.
At a national level, 73% of republicans are in favor of solar farms, according to a study by Pew Research Center.
Despite the fact that not a single republican voted for Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act –that would seek to spend $374 billion on decarbonization–, this act is favoring red states.
According to a report by The Guardian, Republican-held congressional districts are hosting more than 80% of all utility-scale wind and solar farms and battery projects on current development. Also in this report it’s shown that red states receive more IRA investment per capita than blue states. No blue state has more than $5k IRA investment per capita, while past this line up to $12, all states are red. Democrat states have an average of $2,427 IRA climate investment per capita, while Republican states have an average of $4,221 IRA climate investment per capita.
With these numbers and facts, it appears that conservatives are embracing solar farms and renewable energy and making profit from them. Will more states join the solar revolution in the future?