First U.S. Offshore Wind Farm Shutters Diesel Power Plant
America’s first offshore wind farm just helped to shut down a small diesel-fired electric power plant on Block Island, R.I.
Block Island officials on Monday switched on a connection between the island and a cable linking the wind farm to Rhode Island’s mainland power grid. The connection allowed the island’s only electricity source — a small diesel-fueled power plant — to shut down. The island’s 2,000 residents burned about 1 million gallons of diesel fuel annually.
“The emissions that go along with nearly a million gallons of diesel a year — that’s all going to go away,” said Jeff Wright, chief executive of the Block Island Power Co.
Diesel releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than any other common petroleum-based fuel except for residential fuel oil, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Less than 1 percent of electricity in the U.S. is generated using liquid petroleum, including diesel.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/offshore-wind-farm-shutters-power-plant-21407?utm_content=buffer2f744&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
= new reply since forum marked as read
... that you could post that and accuse anyone else of "rants" or "nitpicking". 
It wasn't just the headline that was deceptive. "America’s first offshore wind farm just helped to shut down a small diesel-fired electric power plant " and "Block Island connection is an example of how renewables are helping to displace fossil fuels on the power grid" are also untrue. Why not just say "America's first commercial offshore wind power is now online!" and then highlight the details and talk about other efforts underway that should dwarf this example? That would be every bit as much of a "positive story" and would have the added benefit of actually being true.
Simple disproof:
Connect island to grid but not wind farm - same results for the diesel plant. Wind farm existence irrelevant.
Don't connect island to grid - diesel plant must remain. Wind farm existence (or connection to the island) irrelevant.
Therefore - Connection to grid (as with pretty much every other example of connecting people to the grid) is 100% of the reason why diesel can be retired. Wind farm had nothing to do with it (except for the geographic proximity).
That "disproof" does nothing related to the topic (except display how willing you are to dissemble on behalf of nuclear) as it is nothing but a contrived distortion of the primary statement that the wind farm is an "example of how renewables are helping to displace fossil fuels on the power grid". Whether the Block Island grid is 100% powered by wind isn't a claim made anywhere. The wind farm *is* displacing fossil fueled generation on the grid and Block Island is a primary recipient of the benefit.
There is a simple mental model that demonstrates accurately what is happening - the existing grid can provide back-up to variable renewable generation in much the same way that batteries would. The grid, however, already exists, so it makes economic sense to use it while variable generation increases its penetration. That in no way diminishes the fact that increases in variable renewables do reduce the amount of fossil fuels consumed.
Once again, your little nuclear power plant loving heart is leading you down the dark path of dishonesty and propagandizing. Don't forget that coal and nuclear are two sides of the same centralized generation model.
The study reference below attributes 44% of coal's decline to efficiency and renewables. Since the price of renewables continue their decline and they are garnering a steadily increasing share of energy investment money, IMO the disruption of the baseload fleet seems set to increase.
CREDIT ALEXANDRA KANIK
By GLYNIS BOARD
Can coal make a comeback? That’s the title of a new report from Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. Researchers there analyzed the factors leading to the coal industry’s sharp decline over the past six years and assessed the Trump administration’s efforts to revive it.
...
Trevor Houser with the economic research company Rhodium Group is a co-author of the Columbia study. His report begins with analysis of what’ was driving the dramatic decline in the coal industry since 2011.
https://cpa.ds.npr.org/wkyu/audio/2017/05/0510CoalComebackWeb_0.mp3
Hear Glynis Board's story about coal's future, from The Ohio Valley ReSource.
“We’ve gone from 130,000 to 75,000 employees, and coal production has dropped by 30 percent,” Houser said.
Cheaper natural gas from the shale gas boom is the biggest factor contributing to coal’s decline. Changes in international markets have reduced demand and lowered coal prices here in the U.S. Renewable energy is also becoming a lot more competitive. The report highlights how wind energy prices have fallen by 40 percent in recent years and solar by 80 percent.
“It’s unlikely that those market factors that have reduced coal production over the last five years are....
