If you’ve been keeping your eye on the energy world, you’ve noticed a lot of ideas swirling around when it comes to renewable energy. We’re here to debunk the myths and dive deeper into one of Mother Nature’s best-kept secrets: wind power.
But first, a quick lesson in meteorology.
Before we delve into wind as an energy source, it’s cool to understand how the wind blows. It’s caused by the perfect combo of the sun’s heat on the earth, the earth’s rotation and the earth’s irregular terrain. As the planet spins and heats and cools, areas of high heat and pressure rush to the areas of low heat and pressure.
That's wind.
How about the benefits of it as an energy source?
Harnessing wind and converting it into usable energy unleashes the plethora of perks that wind energy offers.
Because wind happens naturally, that means no drilling, no digging, no pollution. Just clean energy. It doesn’t contaminate the planet and it reduces our reliability on fossil fuels, which are neither clean nor inexhaustible. Wind keeps our air and water cleaner every second of every day, and that’s something (arguably) everyone on the planet can get behind.
Wind also bolsters the economy. Since wind blows literally in our own backyard, we avoid importation taxes. And as more people make the switch to wind, more jobs. Last year alone saw more than 100,000 people working in wind.
But what if the wind stops blowing?
There are two parts to this answer. Both come to the same conclusion: You have nothing to worry about.
First, as we mentioned above, wind is inexhaustible and part of nature. As more wind farms are built around the planet and here in Texas, there is less reliability on a single source of energy. Meaning if the wind isn't blowing in Corpus it may be blowing in O'Donnell.
Second, while it is true that renewable resources (like wind and solar) are variable. Grid operators have tools to maintain the balance of electricity supply and demand. They can predict the variability of wind and solar and adjust sourcing as needed. So, when the wind isn’t blowing, those operators bring on line backup power. When this happens, your toaster oven will still toast, your hair dryer will still dry and your radio will still play those tunes, as they did when the wind was blowing.
Does this mean the Texas freeze was wind’s fault?
Negative. Some were quick to blame renewables, which only makes up roughly 7% of the Texas grid. Instead, it was conventional energy forms like natural gas—which are responsible for 80% of winter’s energy capacity — that failed. Add that to the frozen pipelines in charge of transporting the energy, and you have a lose-lose scenario. We’re not here to point fingers, just to point out the facts.
Welcome to Rhythm.
Speaking of Texas, hello. We’re Rhythm. We’re here to help you switch to a plan that is backed by 100% wind—simply. Signing up is a breeze. It takes a minute — that easy.
We also fully understand that change can be odd, so we have Texas-based support, seven days a week to answer all your questions. And if you’re on the fence, not only do we give you $150 of bill credits to cancel out the cancellation fees from your old provider, but we’ll give you 30 days to make sure you love us. If you don’t, you can leave—no questions or early termination fees apply.
We’re wind energy’s biggest fan. Are you?
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