I read, with great interest, the Jan. 5 article on solar power (“Solar power is cutting daytime electricity demand on New England’s grid“). Up and down the East Coast, we face the same needs to meet a rising demand for electricity, and are filling part of that need with solar, along with offshore wind.

It is worth noting that some voices in the incoming administration are arguing that wind and solar must be excluded from the electrical grid. No convincing reason is given for this argument, and such an exclusion would make it far more difficult to prevent power blackouts from demand outstripping electricity supply. With nuclear fusion more than 10 years in the future, and climate change a real thing, we would be foolish to put all our energy needs in the fossil fuel basket. Fossil fuel interests are of course arguing for exactly that, out of pure financial self-interest.

Let’s be sensible, and stay open to the enormous potential of clean energy to save us money and keep our lights on. And let’s write our laws and regulations in a way that puts no barriers between us and that clean energy.

Chris Wiegard
Chester, Va.