Coal Supply Cuts Signal Challenging Winter for Utilities

NRG Energy Inc., the largest publicly traded U.S. independent power producer, faces challenges supplying grids with electricity this winter because of reduced stockpiles at its coal plants, Chief Executive Officer David Crane said.

Last winter’s arctic blast known as the polar vortex has already put generators on alert. Now, as rail operators are focused on oil deliveries amid the U.S. shale boom, it has been difficult for Princeton, New Jersey-based NRG to move coal to plants, Crane said in an interview at Bloomberg News headquarters in New York. That may mean tight supply again during the cold months for the grids NRG serves from California to the Northeast.