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ClimateProgress <br />BNEF's key post is that the capacity factors for renewables keep going up as the technology gets better and we <br />get smarter about figuring out the optimal placement. BNEF reports that "Some wind farms in Texas are now <br />achieving capacity factors of 50 percent" (!) and offer up this remarkable chart of capacity factors over time: <br />As capacity factors and prices improve, renewables become more attractive. Moreover, once built, the <br />marginal cost of operating a solar and wind plan is "pretty much zero — free electricity — while coal and gas <br />plants require more fuel for every new watt produced." Choosing free zero - pollution power over not -free dirty <br />power isn't a tough choice for utilities. <br />And that brings us to BNEF's jaw- dropping conclusion: "As natural gas and coal plants are increasingly idled <br />in favor of renewables, their capacity factors will take a big hit, and lifetime cost of those plants goes up. Think <br />of them as the expensive back -up power for cheap renewables." <br />4 <br />http: / /thi n kprogress.org /cl imate/ 2016 /06/13/ 3787700 /coal- gas - plants- cheap - renewables/ <br />