Texas' Monticello Power Plant Closes, Signaling the Undeniable Shift to Natural Gas and Renewable Energy

If there were any remaining doubts, the age of coal is over and the era of natural gas and renewables is officially here.Luminant's decision last week to shut its Monticello Power Plant near Mount Pleasant, one of Texas' largest and dirtiest coal-fired electricity plants, is a prime example of this shift. The plant's pending closure in January is a win for clean air and the result of the new economics of energy that renders coal-fired power plants like the Monticello facility cost-prohibitive relics. This is particularly true in Texas: Hydraulic fracturing has made natural gas production cleaner and cheaper than coal. Each year, electricity from the sun and wind contribute more megawatts to the state's power grid. The state's deregulated electricity market increases competition, which leaves costly, emissions belching coal-fired power plants like Monticello on the wrong side of a historic transformation.  Continue reading...