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>Only one coal plant in the US is cheaper to operate than replacing with batteries and renewables

If it's cheaper to slap up some renewables and back them up with batteries then to continue to operate the plants, shouldn't power suppliers be making plans to shut the existing plants down right now? If they are, they why does Michael Bloomberg need to spend half a billion dollars to shut these plants down?

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Utilities commissions and state regulators are enabling these plants to continue to run, even when they’re uneconomical. Consumers pay more than they otherwise would for local electricity due to ideology. That is what this earmark is to fight.

https://www.eenews.net/articles/states-fight-to-save-coal-pl... ("States fight to save coal plants as EPA cracks down")

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/power-switch/2023/03/06... ("Coal is expensive. West Virginia wants more of it.")

https://coal.sierraclub.org/coal-plant-map

Might it be made difficult to replace them, even if they're cheaper, because of the political influence of the goal/gas lobby groups in America?

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