That's the problem. You can't just get rid of a plant that generates 25% of the regions power without a plan to replace that power BEFORE you shut it down. But what do you expect from bleeding-heart pinko leftist politicians?
As for solar, it's all very confusing to me. Not the technology but all the different solar companies and their "deals". Truthfully, I never looked into any, the last salesman that came walking around the back of the house last summer when we were having a barbecue didn't last long.
Probably one in ten houses have solar around here. When I ask neighbors about their installation and how much they are saving nobody can give a straight answer. The one across the street paid something for the installation to their company but her electric bills are all over the place. Some months nothing and some months over $200. The guy next door didn't pay anything and he says he saves about $30/mo. When I ask him how does he get that number, he says his bill is $30 less than what it used to be. So is that because of what your solar produces or did you just use less? He had no idea.
So my point is, I think solar could be a cute way to offset some of your electric usage but it all depends on the company you are dealing with, what their cut is and how much "real estate" you have available to cover with solar panels. If I'm only going to save $30 a month it's hardly worth the trouble. I've briefly thought about buying my own equipment and installing it myself, thus not sharing the KWs with some company that leases space on my roof. But I suspect that the ROI would be longer than my lifetime.
-Hal
