Private equity firms are proving there’s still plenty of profit in the U.S. coal industry despite a decade of falling demand for fossil fuel. They are spending billions of dollars buying coal-fired plants on the cheap – and getting paid even when they are not providing power. Since the end of 2014, at least five U.S. private equity firms have bought coal plants in markets where regulators pay them to be on standby to provide emergency power when demand surges with extreme hot or cold weather, according to a Reuters review of U.S. regulatory disclosures and credit-rating agency reports. The lucrative investments illustrate how fossil fuels will remain an important part of the energy mix – and continue […]