[outside1234]

You need to include batteries in the equation: solar, wind, water and batteries.

What California and others have shown is that you can replace natural gas peaker plants (literally - tear out natural gas turbines) with batteries and get both superior cost dynamics and "dispatchability" (aka turning them on and off). Batteries have millisecond level dispatch, peaker plants have hours level dispatch.

[JuniperMesos]

California has very expensive residential electricity. This isn't solely due to the amount of solar and natural gas in the electricity generation mix, but it does mean that what California is doing is not a great guide to what other jurisdictions ought to be doing.

[0cf8612b2e1e]

Gas peaker plants can be turned on in minutes. Coal takes hours.