Thursday, June 25, 2026 at 02:25 PM
Original source
Utility Dive
MacroLab briefing generated by AI for informational purposes. Original reporting by Utility Dive. Not financial advice.
★ Watchlist
Sign in to use your watchlist.
Coal and gas power plants across the United States are breaking down and becoming unavailable more often than before. In 2025, the amount of electricity these plants couldn't produce due to outages or maintenance jumped significantly: coal plants had 39.8 terawatt-hours (a terawatt-hour is a trillion watt-hours, or roughly the amount of power a large city uses in a day) of unavailable energy, while gas plants added 19.1 terawatt-hours. This data comes from the North American Electric Reliability Corp., the organization responsible for monitoring the stability of the power grid.
The power grid needs backup electricity available at all times, like having a spare generator ready if something breaks. When coal and gas plants break down more often, there's less backup power available to handle unexpected demand or emergencies. This means the grid becomes more fragile. If demand spikes during extreme weather (like a heat wave) and these plants aren't available, utilities might struggle to keep the lights on, potentially leading to blackouts. In the worst case, widespread outages could disrupt businesses, hospitals, and homes. Additionally, if the grid becomes unreliable, electricity prices could rise because power becomes scarcer.
Pay attention to reports about actual blackouts or rolling outages (temporary power cuts in specific areas). If utilities start issuing emergency alerts about tight power supplies during peak demand periods, that signals the problem is worsening. You should also watch for news about whether these plants are getting repaired or whether utilities are adding new backup capacity (like battery storage or new power plants). If breakdowns keep increasing while repairs slow down and no new backup capacity is added, the grid's reliability will continue to weaken.