Congressman Raul Grijalva offers a bogus analysis in the NYTimes.
Here’s the crux of Grijalva’s argument:
There is no doubt the shale gas boom has finally made natural gas competitive with coal on a cost basis. However, what has pushed utilities to switch from coal to gas is stringent EPA regulation that has made coal more expensive for utilities to burn — i.e., older plants must be retrofit to meet new stringent emissions standards and utilities are being forced to reduce CO2 emissions.
The bottom line: Obama’s war-on-coal is preventing coal from competing with gas on a pure cost basis… just like he promised.
The cost of coal vs NG is about the same, and power companies like a bit of diversity in their energy sources, just in case there is a supply shock, they won’t be caught completely with their pants down. The difference is, the hostile environment against coal, and that is it.