CEO of Atlanta-based Southern Co about renewables: “What do you do when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine?”

Tom Fanning, CEO of the Atlanta-based energy company Southern Co, gives the facts about renewable energy in a nutshell:

But as Southern moves toward less reliance on coal because of looming federal regulation of carbon emissions, most of the shift in its portfolio is going toward natural gas.

Fanning said renewable sources of energy like wind and solar tend to be available in sparsely populated areas, requiring expensive transmission lines to distribute the electricity.

Renewables rely heavily on federal tax credits, making the industry vulnerable if those go away, he said.

Fanning said renewable energy also is intermittent by nature.

“What do you do when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine?” he said.

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