This article talks about the vulnerability of coal plants across the country. An energy generation market powered by Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is set to be at risk by 2022, coal fleet is now going to be down by October. The viable option seen by many in the south is to have solar and wind power generations replace the fading coal industry, ultimately leading to many other coal plants to be shut down by 2025. A solution could be to have companies store solar energy during the day for use in low-demand hours. That said, questions that come to mind with this report are: how exactly will companies shift to solar? What costs will customers endure, if any? Will supply be widespread or will it be simply given to people within a certain radius, class, or neighborhood? Will the foregoing reproduce energy vulnerability and environmental injustice?
Kelsey Misbrener, "New report finds Texas utility-scale solar growth may push remaining coal plants into retirement", contributed by Briana Leone, The Energy Rights Project, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 16 July 2020, accessed 24 April 2024. https://energyrights.info/content/new-report-finds-texas-utility-scale-solar-growth-may-push-remaining-coal-plants-retirement
Critical Commentary
This article talks about the vulnerability of coal plants across the country. An energy generation market powered by Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is set to be at risk by 2022, coal fleet is now going to be down by October. The viable option seen by many in the south is to have solar and wind power generations replace the fading coal industry, ultimately leading to many other coal plants to be shut down by 2025. A solution could be to have companies store solar energy during the day for use in low-demand hours. That said, questions that come to mind with this report are: how exactly will companies shift to solar? What costs will customers endure, if any? Will supply be widespread or will it be simply given to people within a certain radius, class, or neighborhood? Will the foregoing reproduce energy vulnerability and environmental injustice?