As rhetoric I would compare it more with "I will be giving everyone free balloons all day while supplies last!" and the supply is one balloon. Sounds great but reality is vastly different.

Again though I dont expect everyone to see the rhetoric I see.

One balloon? Maybe if renewables exploded after half an hour.

The solar-power equivalent would be a balloon every few minutes every weekday, but they run on a strange calendar and you can't predict when weekends happen.

I just don't see how a supply that's unpredictable on a short-term basis, but very predictable on a long-term basis, disqualifies it from being "free".

   Again though I dont expect everyone to see the rhetoric I see.

When you get to this point, it's a good time to ask yourself if you are tilting at windmills, in my experience.

The "free" balloons were paid for to be produced before being given away as ads.

The production of energy has always the costs, and some interested parties attempt to hide them to make them an easier sell.

It's not about hiding costs, it's about capital cost vs. marginal cost. When marginal cost is near-zero, you get significantly different economic behavior from something that has a balance of capital and marginal costs.