“The far better approach would have been to keep the coal and lignite plants operating (instead of forcing them to shut down) and never have installed windmills.”
That is exactly what should have happened. About a decade ago in San Antonio the energy folks contracted a serious bout of ‘wokeness’ and paid millions to cancel SA’s share of a second nuke and instead paid more millions to start windmill farms. I would venture to sat that the only people in the SA area that are happy with that decision are the ranchers that get $800 to $1,200 per month per windmill on their property.
I fervently hope that any members of ERCOT that supported any windmill project will soon be working at Walmart or better yet, breaking rocks.
And I doubt the ranchers are very happy with the ultra low frequency THRUMP, THRUMP, THRUMP, THRUMP these infernal machines make when they are operating. Or the constant flash of the shadows as the blades eclipse the sun.
Over twenty years ago, ranchers in California were forced to sell their ancestral lands and move because those problems were literally driving them insane.