#coal: Where Does It Come From?

Gas power plants are cheaper to build than coal.
. . . They are also cheaper to operate,
. . . partly because they can be ramped up and down more efficiently,
. . . to match fluctuations in demand and supply.

It has become cheaper to build new solar power plants plus storage,
. . . than these natural gas peaking plants.

When energy demand is high,
. . . typically during the afternoon hours of a hot summer day,
. . . solar is at its best.
This makes it a valuable asset to utilities for capacity purposes.

Coal cannot provide the essential resiliency, and
. . . reliability services that we need, like:
. . . . . . voltage support,
. . . . . . reg-up,
. . . . . . reg-down,
. . . . . . primary frequency response, or
. . . . . . secondary frequency response.

Coal, and nuclear plants,
. . . are just not good at anything but spinning reserve.

1-1-2018 Source: #Coal: where does it come from?