What rock did he crawl out from under? In what universe is wind and solar cheaper than coal?
Oh, in the universe where taxpayers subsidize the cost of solar & wind.
But that’s not being cheaper, is it?
Al Gore on Twitter: “Electricity from new wind and solar power is now cheaper than from existing coal plants in many regions of the US. The economic benefits of clean energy are here and now. https://t.co/zHIZmv3qEl / Twitter”
Electricity from new wind and solar power is now cheaper than from existing coal plants in many regions of the US. The economic benefits of clean energy are here and now. https://t.co/zHIZmv3qEl
New wind and solar generation costs fall below existing coal plants
Estimates jeopardise Trump’s hopes of reviving mining industry in US
Ed Crooks in New York
NOVEMBER 9, 2018The cost of new wind and solar power generation has fallen below the cost of running existing coal-fired plants in many parts of the US, threatening to wreck President Donald Trump’s hopes of reviving the mining industry.
New estimates published on Thursday by Lazard, the investment bank, show that it can often be profitable for US generation companies to shut working coal plants and replace their output with wind and solar power.
The calculations suggest that closures of coal-fired plants are likely to continue, eroding US demand for coal and jeopardising Mr Trump’s ambition to “put our coal miners back to work”.
The falling cost of renewable energy is adding to the pressure from cheap gas and stagnant demand for electricity, which have cut US coal power output by more than 40 per cent since 2007.
Retirements of US coal-fired plants are expected to hit a record high this year, and companies including FirstEnergyand American Electric Power have in the past few months announced further closures. Many of the plants being shuttered are reaching the end of their working lives, but even some relatively new capacity is being shut because it is no longer economically viable.