By Isaac Orr, The Hill -
Advocates of renewable energy say free and competitive markets are to blame for coal-fired power plants being replaced by natural gas and wind generation. The problem is, there is no such thing as “free-market electricity generation,” because electricity markets are warped by a series of state and federal government policies. These include a host of regulations that require states to purchase a portion of their electricity from renewable sources, as well as federal policies that subsidize renewable energy sources and impose onerous regulations on coal-fired power plants, such as the Clean Power Plan.