The illusion of "grid parity"

One of the hottest terms in the energy business is "grid parity". What is it? Well, it's a hard-to-define term that is easier to describe by what it means to achieve it. When renewable energy sources become as cheap as or cheaper than producing energy from non-renewable sources, "grid parity" will have been reached. When will that happen? Most experts predict that it will be achieved in the U.S. by 2015. A mere 5 years away. And while I applaud that day and eagerly await it - after all, it will make my business much easier and it's better for the entire world.
But... (you knew that was coming, right?)
What if we have already achieved this ever-elusive goal? What if we didn't have to wait any longer?
I contend that we have. How you ask? Through some creative bean counting.
I've spent some time over the last couple of weeks trying to nail down an amount for how much the oil & gas industries receive from state and federal governments by way of subsidies. It's been very difficult. The problem lies in how the subsidies are given out. There are so many ways the governments give breaks to the fossil fuel industries that it's nearly impossible to track them all and nail down a total amount. The most common, of course, is tax breaks. In the state of Colorado, we give oil & gas companies approximately $300 million a year in tax breaks. In a state with a total debt of nearly $26 billion.
Imagine, if we stopped giving that money to oil & gas companies - remember, they already make profits in the BILLIONS PER QUARTER. Imagine again if we instead gave that money to renewable energy companies or for renewable energy projects. But, I digress...
Without the state & federal subsidies, gas & oil prices would jump - to their true costs. This would do many things. It would cause a lot of pain that would create a lot of change. It would also highlight how renewable energy is, in fact, within parity with fossil fuels already. And then we would easily and quickly change over to renewables.
How likely is this scenario? Not very. We're not likely to cancel the subsidies that have helped build our techno present and will help build our future. Not to mention that, annoying as us wacko treehuggers can be, we don't have the pull that a multi-billion, multi-national oil & gas company has with governments.
What do we do in the meantime? Vote. Both with our ballots and with our wallets. Go find a way to do something renewable for your energy needs - solar hot water, a wind turbine, solar electric, geo-thermal, anything - and take some money away from the utility. Then investigate your political leaders and candidates. Find out not only what they say their environmental policy is, but also how they've actually acted on it. If they're doing what they say they'll do and their actions are positive for our Earth, keep them. If not, fire them. We have the power and it's past time for us to take it back and use it.