We’ve always had difficulty understanding why US electric companies have not simply closed down old, smaller and least efficient coal-fired power plants quickly. From a simple bargaining perspective we thought the US utility industry would have jumped at the chance. In return we would’ve asked for full recovery of the now “stranded” coal assets and at least ten years of regulatory status quo. Upgrading a power generation fleet in this manner is akin to a corporation flush with cash upgrading its vehicle fleet to EVs ahead of schedule to lower fuel expense. This would have left the US electric industry with a more modern generating fleet and lower O&M expenses. What’s worse is industry leaders may have also squandered an opportunity to lower fuel expenses by swapping coal for natural gas. If this were a competitive industry this sort of managerial misstep would be a fatal mistake. But there […]