Cheapest and Cleanest: Solar Power

Follow the money, a forensic accounting catchphrase popularized by the 1976 film “All the President’s Men,” was written into the film’s dialog as coming from “Deep Throat", the informant who took part in revealing the Watergate scandal that brought down President Nixon. It still totally rings true in today’s vocabulary used by both economists and environmentalists. 

That’s why the recent October 7th Science Daily article by researchers at Surry University in the UK “When Sunshine Became Cheaper Than Coal” excited us.  The article is summarized by the statement: Solar energy is now the cheapest source of power worldwide, driving a massive shift toward renewables. Falling battery prices and innovations in solar materials are making clean energy more reliable than ever.

Even in the UK, a country that sits well north of the equator, solar is the cheapest option for large-scale energy generation. And it’s not just a UK thing either. Globally, the total amount of solar power installed has doubled since 2020 with enough to power hundreds of millions of homes! 

Here in the US, from January to July of this year as reported by Reuters, solar power generation delivered 39% of California’s electricity, a record level. Fossil fuels provided just 26%, a new low.

That’s good news and doubly so on reading headlines published in multiple sources the same day that a Navajo tribe-owned company bid only $186,000 to lease 167 million tons of coal in southeastern Montana. Even at those dirt-cheap prices, coal still can’t compete with solar power. It was also reported that the offer from the Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC) equates to one-tenth of a penny per ton, underscoring coal’s diminished value even as the administration pushes for more of the heavily polluting fuel.

It's wonderful long-term news and if we follow the money the world can now begin to remove carbon from the atmosphere. It turns out that by installing grid leveling devices, we can use excess solar power at certain times of day to capture and store CO2.

The Oct 8th announcement of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry award given to three different scientists relates to new chemical processes that can capture and stores gases in specifically designed ways. Application of these processes, known as metal-organic frameworks, have wide range of uses, including collecting water from air, capturing toxic gases, and trapping carbon dioxide. These frameworks can take CO2 out of the air by new grid adjusting technology in solar power generation.

So, what does that mean to Massachusetts and more particularly Greater Newburyport? It means that if we push now for more development of solar power it will bring down our high cost of living in the northeast by bring down sky high electric prices. We need our leaders to get creative on bringing down both the dollar cost and the environmental cost of power generation.

Maybe as giant ‘hyperscale’ companies seek more power for their emerging AI businesses, the states could follow the money and offer 30-year bonds to entice them to establish largescale solar farms to completely cover the energy needs of these facilities and their local communities. Or possibly accelerate reviews and approvals without causing harm. Shake up the process because this is "once in centuries transition" and the sooner we midwife its emergence the better off the world will be.

Perhaps new construction of apartments in the MBTA communities required zoning changes could be green-lighted more quickly if they include solar power on or off site. India is doing that. Perhaps the state can direct new funding to Whittier Tech and every other vocational school in the state to establish a solar power component on campus and use it for training students for future careers as well as generating needed campus electricity.

This is a huge and positive development coming into focus. Don’t underestimate the enormous positivity of these recent assessments in the cost of solar vs other forms of power. If we follow the money, the time is now. Let’s encourage the state to invest in the future while leading to more affordable power and a lower and cleaner cost of living. Let us know what you think.

ACES team members believe everyone can make a BIG difference together. We invite you to stay updated on environmental matters by subscribing to our monthly newsletter via the “Subscribe to Updates” link on ACES’ website – https://www.aces-alliance.org/.

This educational column was originally published by The Daily News of Newburyport on October 10, 2025.