Coal plants being shut down as demand decreases

Americans are using less electricity during the pandemic as factories and commercial facilities are closed. Power providers are reacting to this by shutting down the most costly source of electricity, coal power plants. With hydro, natural gas and renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power less expensive than coal, producers are retiring plants at an accelerated rate. According to energy consulting firm, Wood Mackenzie, US coal generation is expected to decline more rapidly than previously expected. Their previous estimate was a decline of 3.5% and they have now revised that to a decline of 25%. This shift is occurring despite the Trump Administration’s efforts to increase, or at least stabilize, the coal industry by rolling back environmental standards and barriers to building new power plants. As Nelson Peeler, Duke Energy’s chief transmission officer is quoted in the link article in the Wall Street Journal said, “We dispatch our fleet on economics.”

I guess the old saying, “Don’t fight the tide or economics” is right. Why not go with the tide and install some solar today?