Scores by kind of claim
Each kind of claim is scored on its own, out of 100: the share that held up, with the range it likely falls in. Fewer resolved claims give a wider range.
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Factual claims
Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?
72 64 80 -
Predictions
Statements about events outside the person's control, checked once they fell due: did they come true?
58 40 75
All types combined: 70 (likely 62 to 77, high confidence), from 52 claims: 43 factual claims, 9 predictions. It mixes kinds of claim in different proportions for different people, so compare people kind by kind.
Vinod Khosla's claims
“Today, we force utilities to take it, and that's really just a tax.”
Vinod Khosla, venture capitalist, interviewee 28 September 2007 Interviews - Vinod Khosla (Frontline Heat) (PBS Frontline)
Utilities are currently forced to take the power the subject was discussing (power he said nobody needs at night), which he described as really just a tax.
Mostly true True in substance, wrong in a detail.
What would count as true or false
Judge as of 2007-09-28. The claim refers to renewable (e.g., wind) power produced at night when demand is low. True: in 2007, US policies (such as PURPA must-purchase obligations, state renewable portfolio standards or feed-in or must-take rules) required utilities to buy the power whenever it was produced, including at night, with the costs passed on to ratepayers, so calling it a tax is a reasonable description. Mostly true: such obligations existed but applied only in some jurisdictions or under some contracts, and the claim generalises them slightly. Mixed: purchase mandates existed but generally did not force utilities to take power whenever it was produced (curtailment was common, for example). Mostly false: mandates were limited or indirect, and the claim substantially overstates them. False: no such forced-purchase requirements existed. The 'tax' label is opinion; judge only the factual part, that utilities were forced to take the power.
Evidence
- Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS): Background and Debate Over a National Requirement Congressional Research Service (via EveryCRSReport) · 6 August 2007
“Section 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) of 1978 had guaranteed a market for the purchase of electric power produced from small renewable energy facilities. PURPA let states determine the avoided cost pricing of the electricity production from renewable energy facilities. The effectiveness of this mechanism lessened with the advent of electric industry restructuring.”
- PURPA's puzzle: FERC workshop revisits 1978 law, embattled as ever Utility Dive · 28 July 2016
“The key provision of PURPA is Section 210, the mandatory purchase obligation, sometimes called “the PURPA put.” Section 210 obliged utilities to buy the electrical output from qualifying facilities (QFs) that met PURPA requirements in terms size and efficiency and, for CHP, thermal output.”
- Wind and Solar Energy Curtailment: Experience and Practices in the United States National Renewable Energy Laboratory (U.S. Department of Energy) · March 2014
“Curtailments during low net load periods have been reported by several utilities and system operators, including CAISO (CAISO 2010), Hawaii, NV Energy, BPA, Alberta ISO, and ISO New England.”
- Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS): Background and Debate Over a National Requirement Congressional Research Service (via EveryCRSReport) · 6 August 2007
“Under a renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS), retail electricity suppliers (electric utilities) must either provide a minimum amount of electricity from renewable energy resources or purchase tradable credits that represent an equivalent amount of renewable energy production.”
Reasoning
E2 describes PURPA Section 210 as a mandatory purchase obligation that required utilities to buy the electrical output of qualifying facilities, and E1, a CRS report from August 2007, confirms PURPA guaranteed a market for small renewable producers. E1 also says this mechanism became less effective after electric industry restructuring. Under the RPS described in E4, utilities had to supply a minimum amount of renewable power or buy credits, which is a quantity mandate rather than a duty to take power whenever it is produced. E3 shows curtailment during low-demand periods, but it is a 2014 report and the one dated source it cites is from 2010. Forced-purchase obligations did exist in 2007, but they were partial and weakening, so the claim generalises them somewhat.
Cite this claim
Vinod Khosla, “Utilities are currently forced to take the power the subject was discussing (power he said nobody needs at night), which he described as really just a tax.” (said 28 September 2007). Verdict: mostly true. Reliability API, claim c_53efdfad5ed1, method 0.1.0+c876030c. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_53efdfad5ed1
Claims without a verdict
Is a verdict here wrong, or do you speak for Vinod Khosla? Reply on the claim's own page, with the form at its foot (how replies work). Verdicts are made automatically; how verdicts and scores are made.