Over at Bloomberg, Chris Martin has written a piece highlighting a shortcoming with wind power–namely, wind power can go missing during periods of extreme cold–exactly at a time when power is most needed to meet surging demand. Martin goes on to note that “For now, coal is temporarily supplying about half the electricity needs in the two grids that serve most of the affected region — the Southwest Power Pool and Midcontinent Independent System Operator. Normally, coal and wind supply roughly the same amount, about a third of the total power mix.”
Martin also states that “Wind generation on Wednesday afternoon was less than half its annual average in the Southwest Power Pool, the grid operator from North Dakota to Oklahoma.”
This shows why we need the baseload generation that coal, nuclear and natural gas provides.