Grid parity reaches California in the renewable auction market

Reaching grid parity has been regarded as a pivotal milestone in the world of power, solar and renewable energy. Grid parity is the cost of electricity generated from solar power equaling that from conventional, longstanding grid sources such as natural gas and fossil fuel power plants. Solar power costs have been dropping fast, especially in California, which has been leading the away from using coal and fossil fuels to generate electricity. On March 30, the Vote Solar Initiative reported that The weighted average highest cost of solar and other renewable power contracts accepted by California utilities in the state’s Renewable Auction Market (RAM) auction amounted to 8.9 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for 20-year power purchase contracts.