I drove through Route 80 in Iowa about five years ago and there were giant wind farms that seemed to go on for miles.
None of them were turning except for an occasional one here and there.
What the heck is that all about?
The turbines are tied into the national grid. If the daytime weather over much of the nation is such that the power needs are lower than normal (sunny=less electric lighting. About 70 degrees=less use of ac or heat), the turbines are easy to shut off; feather the prop, and it stops turning.
I don’t know how easy it is to quickly power down a coal or nuke power plant.
Subsidy farming. It's big in the midwest.
Wind and solar have both come down in cost. Both have growing legitimate markets for off-grid applications. Neither is competitive without subsidy with conventional or nuclear generation.
Was through there twice this year—no change.
Wind turbines are designed to extract climate guilt money from taxpayers and ratepayers. The electricity they produce is extremely expensive and unreliable. But they are green, so HOW DARE YOU!?