The La Paloma natural gas-fired generating plant is shown in McKittrick, California, U.S., April 20, 2009. Courtesy of Rockland Capital/Handout via In February of 2001, then California Governor Gray Davis stood at the site of Calpine Corp’s new Sutter natural gas power plant and unveiled his plan to fast-track construction of similar stations to add 20,000 megawatts of modern, efficient generation to the state in three years. Natural gas, Davis said, was “the most environmentally friendly, clean, appropriate fuel” to help the state move beyond the energy crisis it had just endured and enable its 34 million residents “to enjoy the good life that California represents.” Today, the plants inaugurated that day are among the casualties of a monumental shift in the U.S. energy landscape. An unexpected combination of oversupply of natural gas and a boom in solar and other renewable energy has depressed power prices and threatened the […]