Maybe I'm being bone headed about this, and I am certainly no Einstein, but I am sure that to construct a completely new power plant has got to be awfully expensive. I would think,(and I could be wrong) is it so expensive to retrofit winterize and turn existing coal plants into natural gas plants with the winterization to withstand very cold temperatures that expensive of an option that it's better to just build a new one. If not there are 3 just in the East Texas area, Monticello, Welsh, Perky, that could be remodeled and continue to supply the power grid. Then if you need more, then by all means build you some new ones. Just doesn't make good sense to me to get rid of something that could be used, just to build something new. I'm sure the millions of people who where out of power in the February cold snap wouldn't have really cared if an old or new plant supplied them with electricity as long as they where able to keep the heat on.

The problem with the older lignite plants is the emissions.

This whole situation is such a stupid thing. Its hard to imagine that a state like Texas would have an energy generation problem. When has any business torn down a plant before they had its replacement online? Shutting down a coal plant not only takes away a generating source of power for the grid, it takes away revenue from West Virginia and all the other coal producing states. Just like Obama, Biden is hell bent on killing jobs in those states.. Coal can generate power 24/7.. not so much for wind and solar. I have read that the issue with older coal plants is you can't do anything to them to modernize without basically starting from scratch because of regulations. We have already cut off our nose.. now its really hard to breathe.

The problem with the older lignite plants is the emissions.

Enjoy Welsh for a couple more winters... it’s on the decommission list too, and I hear there’s a date set but have not been able to locate it online. Squaw May end up being the only one left.

Enjoy Welsh for a couple more winters... it’s on the decommission list too, and I hear there’s a date set but have not been able to locate it online. Squaw May end up being the only one left.

It will be similar to that dark state of California!

I think it's more than just emissions for coal. To my knowledge the price of gas and wind has just come down to a level that coal is not economical. Emissions is part of the equation but not the total. The price just to move coal has to be way higher than gas and wind. Boone Pickens was no idiot when he built those wind farms out by Sweetwater. Once those turbins are up you have maintenance and that's it. They just sit there and spin. Assume they have some lifespan just like a plant but still if you can manage the law suites from the bird people wind is going to be the long term cheapest option. Lots of cheap land to build them on and you don't even have to buy it. Just lease it from the farmer/rancher. Course it would be nice if they were winterized properly. They use wind up in North Dakota so it's certainly possible.

Has anyone ever looked up the output of a wind mill farm. The one in sweetwater only puts out 700 mw. while most power plants put out 1800 to 2500 kw. I wouldn't be surprised if we had rolling black outs in texas within a summer or two.

There is a coal mine literally on the fairfield property. Pickens has already said the wind farms are a bust because breakdown and maintanence is making electricity profits a wash. Did you know they have to replace the blades every so many years, yes they go bad. That a huge expense and storage issue for the old blades, windmills are not the answer and the industry wouldn't exist without federal govt subsidies.