No, gas has always been the most expensive source of electricity. Take a look at the German merit order from 2018:

https://www.ffe.de/en/publications/merit-order-shifts-and-th...

Nuclear is cheapest, then lignite, then hard coal, and then gas. Germany phased out the cheapest option first, now continues with the second, and is expanding the most expensive.

The obvious choice would have been to do what China and India are doing - phase out gas power first and focus on electrification. But Europe did the opposite.