Natural gas generation is able to provide dispatchable energy on an as-needed basis to the grid. Since solar and wind generated energy are unreliable and also tend to destabilize the grid the more of it penetrates, this standby “spinning reserve,” is essential given current infrastructure. It doesn’t necessarily come cheap, however.
The reason Texas almost collapsed a couple years ago was that when the wind generation failed, ERCOT had to cut the feed to the gas fields, which meant compressors and pumps in the NG system failed. The media of course blamed NG instead of the real culprit, 7000 wind turbines freezing up or simply falling idle when the wind died.
Why did ERCOT have to cut the feed to the gas fields when the wind generation failed?