Solar power companies, including Phil Bredesen’s Silicon Ranch, wouldn’t make much of a mark without do-gooder government officials giving them taxpayer money, government incentives, and other generous benefits, an expert said. That’s because less than 2 percent of America’s electricity comes from solar power, said Nick Loris of the Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. “Without these government benefits, you would see a lot less because anytime you subsidize something you’re going to get more of it,” Loris told The Tennessee Star. “If you got rid of all energy subsidies, not just the ones for solar, but all the ones for fossil fuels, for wind, for nuclear, then I think, in a true free market, solar’s role in the electricity generation portfolio would be pretty minimal.” But, Loris went on to say, if market forces dictate that solar power is cost competitive and if people are willing to pay more for it, then they ought to have that right. “Those decisions are from an investment perspective and by a consumer choice perspective,” Loris said. “They shouldn’t be driven by the federal government and gambling with other people’s money.” But if those subsidies and other benefits for solar power are…
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