Three more coal-powered plants in Texas will be shutting down soon.
As The Dallas Morning News reports,this development means that Texas will likely be getting more of its power from wind than from traditional coal plants. The Trump administration has rallied to try and save coal operations, standing by its stance that coal is the victim of efforts by environmental activists to close the plants. In fact, the closures of coal facilities began a decade ago, after the price of natural gas plummeted.
Cheap natural gas triggered a trend that caused the amount of electricity derived from coal to fall by 10 percent in the ensuing years. This trend, in turn, opened the door for renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
Today, the Lone Star State derives less than 30 percent of its energy from coal plants. That number is likely to fall further, and soon.