this post was submitted on 22 May 2026
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Solar electricity is poised to overtake coal in—of all places—Texas (www.motherjones.com)
submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by pelespirit@sh.itjust.works to c/solarpunk@slrpnk.net
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For the first time ever, solar is set to generate more electricity than coal in the power market managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Nobody is building new coal power plants in the state, but developers are adding more solar there than anywhere else in the country. As a result of those diverging trajectories, the federal government expects ERCOT will receive 78 billion kilowatt-hours from solar in 2026, and just 60 from coal.

This trend does have seasonal variations. Last year, solar output beat coal on a monthly basis from March through August, and this year it is expected to do so from March through December, per the US Energy Information Administration at the Department of Energy.

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[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

ehh, the actual technology where liquid oil / fuels are required are like 3% of all total energy consumption. the rest 97% can be electrified, and actually, using electricity is in many cases even simpler than using coal. for example in steel production. it's easier to do with electricity than coal because coal contains sulfur and that introduces impurities into your chemical process. meanwhile electrolysis is simple and clean.