CLIMATE NEWS | SATIRE
Biden Administration Announces Strategic Solar Reserve to Leverage End of Daylight Savings
Vital energy resource to be launched in Spring 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nov. 23, 2022 — The Department of Energy today announced that it is creating a Strategic Solar Reserve to improve the country’s critical energy resilience program. It will preserve the hour of sunshine otherwise lost during the move to Daylight Savings Time in March, 2022, holding it for future needs.
“Americans depend on reliable, affordable energy sources, and as more of our energy comes from renewable resources like solar, it’s only smart to ensure our reserves reflect that move to clean energy,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Our Strategic Solar Reserve supports families’ and businesses’ right to access clean energy even during times when there may be supply constraints.”
The Strategic Solar Reserve will be initiated by preserving the hour of sunlight between 2:00 pm and 2:59 pm on Sunday March 13, 2022. In the past, clocks would “Spring Forward” in the middle of the night, losing the opportunity to gather the additional sunlight. By changing clocks during daylight hours, the country will be able to collect the skipped hour of sunshine and convert it to electricity using existing solar farms when needed.
The Federal Government will eliminate future Daylight Saving time changes, ensuring that the reserve is not drawn down by “Falling Back” later in the year. The announcement came on the same day that Secretary Granholm,at the direction of President Biden, authorized 50 million barrels of crude oil be made available from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
“The sunshine that falls on the United States in a single hour is enough to power the whole country for almost a whole year,” Secretary Granholm said. “By ensuring our sunshine works smarter, not harder, America’s renewable energy system can provide the grid with a higher degree of certainty, knowing it can draw down that solar reserve when it is most needed.”
Energy analysts celebrated the announcement. “It underscores the President’s commitment to a transition to true energy independence, that is, energy that is free of both carbon pollution and time-based supply constraints,” said Nette Nialas, founder and lead analyst of energy think tank High Sierra Institute.
The move is not without detractors. The ranking Republican member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05), called the move “a blatant power grab.” “I mean that literally: they are grabbing power and holding it in reserve so they can gain political points during severe grid events such as the outages Texas faced earlier this year.”
Like the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the Strategic Solar Reserve will hold extra energy in reserve for times when supply is otherwise constrained to lower the chance of price shocks that create an economic toll on all electricity consumers. Unlike petroleum, however, the supply of sunlight is not manipulated by an organized cartel such as OPEC.
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