Gas Rally Boosts Coal’s Allure for Power Plants: Energy Markets
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The 20 percent jump in natural gas prices in the past month may prompt U.S. power producers to move to coal, as rising temperatures boost air-conditioning demand.
Gas rose to $5.189 per million British thermal units in New York today, the highest level in almost four months, as Commodity Weather Group, a forecaster based in Bethesda, Maryland, said the hottest areas over the next two weeks will be the Midwest, South and Mid-Atlantic. The price of coal is about $4.63 per million Btu, according to Teri Viswanath, director of commodities research at Credit Suisse Securities USA in Houston.