Those Terrible Coal Fired Power Plants

For John, BLUF:  In a move that seemed counter-intuitive, President Biden came out a couple of days ago and said coal fired power plants are going away, but withouot an apparent plan.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Biden says coal plants 'all across America' will be shut down, replaced with wind and solar

Here is the sub-headline:

Biden argued that it's 'cheaper' to generate electricity from wind and solar than it is from coal

From Fox Business, by Reporter Andrew Miller, 4 November 2022, 6:22pm EDT.

Here is the lede plus two:

President Biden said Friday that coal plants are too expensive to operate, and "we're going to be shutting these plants down all across America" in order to shift to wind power in a comment that drew criticism from the Republican National Committee.

"I was in Massachusetts about a month ago on the site of the largest old coal plant in America," Biden said at an event in Carlsbad, California, on Friday.  "Guess what?  It cost them too much money.  They can't count.  No one is building new coal plants because they can’t rely on it.  Even if they have all the coal guaranteed for the rest of the existence of the plant.

"So it's going to become a wind generation.  And all they're doing is it’s going to save them a hell of a lot of money and using the same transmission line that they transmitted the coal-fired electric on, we're going to be shutting these plants down all across America and having wind and solar power, also providing tax credits to help families buy energy efficient appliances, whether it's your refrigerator or your coffee maker, for solar panels on your home, weatherize your home, things that save an average, experts say, a minimum of $500 a year for the average family."

There are a number of views on the cost of wind and solar vs coal.  Here is an example from last year of someone saying coal is actually cheaper.  On the other hand, at about the same time The Guardian told us that solar and wind were coming in cheaper.  Some point to the subsidies provided by Governments to make renewable energy cheaper.

Reoorts show coal fired power plans are being closed, or will become more expensive than nearby renewable efforts, by four-fiths by 2025.  But, what about picking up the slack when thew wind does not blow or the sun does not shine.  Tht will be on hydropower or carbon or nuclear fueled power plants.

From a "Climate Change4" point of view it isn't just about the US and Europe.  China has recently approved 8.63 gigawatts (GW) of coal power just in the first three months of 2022.  China has pronmised to limit climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, but that is off in the future.

What is missing from President Biden's untimely proclamation was a time schedule.  When is this going to happen?  Will he still be President.

What is missing is a program to inform the voters of the United States as to the long term plan for providing consistent electric power across the fruited plain, withouot the use of carbon fuel.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff