Now that the climate bill is in hibernation, it would be easy to despair that the US power sector will resume its tradition of burning high-polluting coal to sell increasing amounts of electricity.

The Washington Post opted for such a conclusion in an Aug. 23 article, "Proliferation of old-style coal plants increases despite public outcry." The article noted that "dozens" of old-style coal plants -- 32, to be exact -- have been built since 2008 or are under construction. But there was an important context missing: The article failed to note that wind power production was the largest source of new electricity in the US last year and that for every new coal plant built in the US in recent years, four proposed coal plants have been canceled or delayed.

The reality is the US power sector is undergoing a dramatic transformation to decarbonize its energy offerings and sell less, not more, electricity.

Examples of this shift were aplenty during the hot sweaty last days of August:

• Nuclear giant Exelon bought 735 megawatts of wind power in operation and another 230 megawatts under development, making it one of the nation's largest wind power providers.
• GE Energy broke ground on a new 183-megawatt wind power project in Idaho.
• Hawaii's utility regulators approved plans to sever the amount of profits the island's largest utility earns from the amount of electricity it sells, the 12th state to approve decoupling.
• The 468-megawatt Cape Wind project cleared a final judicial hurdle to build the nation's first offshore wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts.

This shift has little to do with altruism and lots to do with long-term economics.

Even without climate legislation, other market forces are compelling the industry to change. Wind and other forms of renewable energy are becoming more cost-competitive with fossil-fuel based generation, and states are setting aggressive renewable energy targets while the federal government provides financial incentives. Energy efficiency is gaining regulatory support as the lowest-cost option for meeting energy demand. Environmental rules for limiting mercury, SO2 and other air pollutants are getting tighter. And with climate legislation stalled, EPA greenhouse gas regulations are looming.

Add these trends together, and it's easy to see why the traditional business model of building large fossil fuel-fired power plants to sell more electricity is becoming outdated.