by Staff Writers Berkeley CA (SPX) Mar 11, 2013 Expanding
production of the United States' shale gas reserves in recent
years has put downward pressure on natural gas prices across the
nation, prompting massive fuel-switching from coal- to gas-fired
generation. Though arguably a near-term positive for both
consumers and the environment, this "dash for gas"-and,
specifically, its corresponding suppression of wholesale power
prices-has made it harder for wind and other renewable power
technologies to compete on price alone (despite recent
improvements in their cost and performance). As wind power finds
it more difficult to compete with gas-fired generation on the
basis of price, it may increasingly need to rely on other
attributes, such as its "portfolio" or "hedge" value, as
justification for continued deployment in the power mix. Against
this backdrop, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley
Lab) has released a new report, funded by the U.S. Department of
Energy, that investigates the degree to which