Applauding the end of federal wind and solar subsidies, Energy Secretary Chris Wright dismissed the two sources in a single figure: they are, he said, 'approximately three percent of total US primary energy consumption,' and 'low value' because 'the wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine,' which he said drives up costs [1].
The '3 percent' is measured against all primary energy - everything burned for transport, heat and power at once - a denominator that shrinks any single electricity source. Measured on the grid, where wind and solar actually compete, the numbers are different. The EIA inside Wright's own department puts wind at about 11 percent and solar at 7 to 8 percent of US electricity, roughly 18 to 19 percent combined [2].
The gap widens on what is being built. Solar is the single largest source of new US generating capacity, and solar, wind and storage together make up nearly 100 percent of the capacity added this year [2]. The 'low-value' fringe is almost the entire new power system.
The cost claim runs backward too. An E&E News fact-check notes US electricity prices have risen, not fallen, driven by surging demand - which makes 'they drive up costs' a description of a market wind and solar are helping supply, not the reason bills are climbing [3].
Wright's number is not invented; it is chosen. '3 percent of all energy' is the framing that makes the largest source of new American power plants sound like a rounding error [1][2].
