Natural-gas futures rose Wednesday as traders anticipate increased demand from power generators that have new incentives to switch away from coal. Prices for the front-month August contract settled up 2.2 cents, or 0.5%, at $4.119 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The front-month contract closed trading at a six-month low on Tuesday. Mild weather and high natural-gas prices this summer so far have encouraged operators of power plants to keep burning coal, which allowed a rapid build-up in gas supplies. However, after falling 14% since hitting a one-month high on June 12, gas prices are low enough for the fuel to be competitive with coal again. Aaron Calder, senior market analyst at energy-consulting firm Gelber & Associates in Houston, has identified $3.91/MMBtu as a point where power generators are likely to switch from burning coal to burning natural gas. Some producers […]