Thanks.
“Natural Gas powered electrical generation has grown cheaper both because of lower fuel cost and significantly improved efficiencies”.
However, the bid must not have had coal as a competitor. In our area a new gas generating plant is still five to ten times more expensive than coal according to the producers. We are seeing the direct result with a new gas plant in Cheyenne WY and the early shut down of at least three coal fired plants.
No way that is true. A modern combined-cycle power-turbine gas turbine is about twice as efficient as the coal boiler. The price of natural gas is not 10 to 20 times as expensive as coal.
In fact, price per BTU, central appalachia coal prices are slightly above the natural gas prices. Powder River coal is about 1/5 the cost, not 1/10 to 1/20th.
Electricity Monthly Update
http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/update/resource_use.cfm#tabs_spot-2
False. This wasn't a single winner. Multiple power suppliers including coal had winning bids. But no single power source supplies enough base power to come close to meeting the needs. Multiple companies including multiple fuels sources won including coal, natural gas and nuclear.
The capacity offered in the 2018/2019 BRA resulted from both new generating resources and uprates to existing resources including gas, diesel, coal, wind, and nuclear resources. The largest growth remains in gas turbines and combined cycle plants.