From the Dallas Morning News:
"The days of wind power occupying a niche space in the American electricity market are long gone," said Amy Farrell, the industry group's senior vice president of government and public affairs. "Today, wind is a mainstream integral part of our energy supply and economy."
The association highlighted a report from investment company Lazard saying that wind energy costs dropped 4 percent last year. That follows a cost decline of two-thirds between 2009 and 2016. That report also indicated wind was the cheapest energy option in some areas, even without its current tax credits.
An effort to accelerate the phase-out of renewable tax credits was attempted late last year but mostly failed in the U.S. Senate.
In Texas, electricity generation capacity from wind surpassed generation capacity from coal in December, making it No. 2 behind natural gas. Nationally, wind-based capacity has more than doubled since 2010.
Wind generated 17.4 percent of Texas' electricity last year. At its highest points, March and April, wind accounted for about one-quarter of the state's electricity. On at least one day, it accounted for half of the state's electricity generation.
Still, Texas wind farms, which are at the mercy of weather patterns, fall well short of regularly generating as much electricity as coal. In 2017, coal plants produced 54 percent more electricity even though their capacities were close.
https://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/2018/01/30/texas-global-leader-wind-oil
The last bit from the article backs up what NNadir keeps pointing out. But the trend is decidedly against coal. Texas utilities have plans to close 4 old coal plants. And more solar is being built in West Texas.
The cost curve is working against coal and nuclear and to some degree even Natgas. We have seen an increase in the use of batteries by utilities to extend the use of wind and solar. My bet is that will increase even more in the future.
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