Climate Changed

America's Deep Freeze Is Aiding Coal and Sending Power Up

Power plants are burning more coal and oil amid arctic blast
Electricity prices in New York reach highest since 2016

Bloomberg Intelligence’s Vincent Piazza talks about how freezing temperatures.are driving up natural gas prices.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Tim Loh, Chris Martin, and Naureen S Malik

December 28, 2017 at 8:58 PM UTC

Updated on

December 29, 2017 at 9:32 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The arctic blast that’s turning the northern half of the U.S. into a giant icebox this week has been good news for oil and coal.

Plants are using the most fuel oil in three years to produce the electricity that’s powering heaters across New England. In the PJM market, which stretches from Illinois to Washington, D.C., coal has once again surged past natural gas to become the biggest fuel for power generation. Oil demand has also shot up.