> This isn't power that would otherwise be wasted: they are emitting more pollution and greenhouse gasses
This isn't obvious to me. Natural gas is often a byproduct of extracting other resources like oil, coal etc. If it isn't used for electricity, heat, chemical feedstocks etc. it either gets flared (resulting in zero revenue) or else ends up in the atmosphere as such, with a vastly higher GHG potential compared to the CO2 equivalent.
But it doesn't have to be flared or emitted immediately. There's nothing keeping them from generating less electricity now and burning the natural gas later.
This isn't obvious to me. Natural gas is often a byproduct of extracting other resources like oil, coal etc. If it isn't used for electricity, heat, chemical feedstocks etc. it either gets flared (resulting in zero revenue) or else ends up in the atmosphere as such, with a vastly higher GHG potential compared to the CO2 equivalent.