That's right. Dutch industry perceives an unfair advantage for German industry because of the country prioritized renewables. Although this complaint revolves around subsidies for renewable energy (and even within Germany there are detractors and supporters of the country's approach), the government has taken the approach that energy generation is no different than good transportation or communication systems: it is infrastructure that creates a better marketplace.
Switching to renewable energy mitigates risk for the energy user as well as the society as a whole. Society benefits because reduced energy use means lower emissions, which in turn means lower health-related spending and less expense due to extreme weather events. Businesses and residents also directly benefit because they have fixed cost energy for the rated life of the system, then only maintenance-cost-based energy for as long as the system produces. The volatility of commodity price shocks evaporates.
Lest we think Germany is somehow uniquely positioned geographically to make renewable energy work, consider that it has the same solar profile as Wisconsin. The US has the opportunity to do better. As we look to get more competitive globally in manufacturing, what better way to offset a higher cost of labor than to eliminate the risk of energy pricing. It will not help every manufacturer in every industry, but in emerging technologies, it will keep US businesses competitive longer.
And wouldn't it be great to see the headline, "Chinese manufacturers complain US competition has too great an energy advantage".
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