Most Coal Plants in Biggest U.S. Grid Are Becoming Money-Losers

摘要

Most of the coal plants that feed the biggest U.S. power grid will soon no longer be economic to run after prices in a key auction plunged to the lowest in 11 years.Of the 44 coal-fired power plants on the grid operated by PJM Interconnection LLC, 32 will be unprofitable in 2023, the first full year that will be affected by results released last week for itscapacity auction. That represents 38 gigawatts of capacity out of 47 total gigawatts supplied by coal, and is quadruple the number of money-losing coal facilities now, according to aBloombergNEF analysis on Monday.The PJM auction is an important event for the industry as it affects future revenue for utilities that agree to keep capacity on standby in case extra power is needed. Coal was the only fuelthat declined in the auction - a sign that it’s increasingly uncompetitive compared to cheaper and cleaner fuels like natural gas and renewables, which both saw significant increases.