The rebuttal based on retail electricity prices is not the strongest.
So we must maintain enough energy capacity in a parallel system, typically powered by natural gas.
The question is what new energy to build. Batteries are extremely competitive for new energy, more competitive without trade barriers meant to protect O&G, placed in EVs with V2G (or Vehicle to home/power) a private expenditure to enhance grid.
Legacy FF plants do not need to be nuked from orbit. Solar+batteries can outcompete existing FF plant variable costs. They are more competitive at low interest rates. But if demand is growing they outcompete new FF/nuclear plants. Legacy plants supplement batteries/renewables through backup/resillence services. Even 24/7 datacenter demand growth can be met through on site solar/battereies, because the bottleneck is daytime/duck curve transmission instead of generation capacity outside of self production. Renewables and EVs also reduce the price/cost of FFs. They are energy that displaces demand for other energy.
The low price of NG was a function of a less than expected success in US war on Europe. EU decreased NG/coal use by over 10% as a result of renewables expansion, even as electricity demand grew.
Where cheap energy and cheap steel is a key to US manufacturing, tariffs are extremely counter productive. Consumers of energy/metals are denied competitiveness, and their customers are denied value. Creating domestic monopolies/cartels is political corruption.
The rebuttal based on retail electricity prices is not the strongest.
The question is what new energy to build. Batteries are extremely competitive for new energy, more competitive without trade barriers meant to protect O&G, placed in EVs with V2G (or Vehicle to home/power) a private expenditure to enhance grid.
Legacy FF plants do not need to be nuked from orbit. Solar+batteries can outcompete existing FF plant variable costs. They are more competitive at low interest rates. But if demand is growing they outcompete new FF/nuclear plants. Legacy plants supplement batteries/renewables through backup/resillence services. Even 24/7 datacenter demand growth can be met through on site solar/battereies, because the bottleneck is daytime/duck curve transmission instead of generation capacity outside of self production. Renewables and EVs also reduce the price/cost of FFs. They are energy that displaces demand for other energy.
The low price of NG was a function of a less than expected success in US war on Europe. EU decreased NG/coal use by over 10% as a result of renewables expansion, even as electricity demand grew.
Where cheap energy and cheap steel is a key to US manufacturing, tariffs are extremely counter productive. Consumers of energy/metals are denied competitiveness, and their customers are denied value. Creating domestic monopolies/cartels is political corruption.