New Energy
Summer Blackout Fears Fuel 300% Jump in Gauge of US Power-Plant Profit
Windfall will come at expense of homes and businesses. Potential beneficiaries could include ArcLight, Blackstone, Vistra and NRG.
Homes during a blackout in Sausalito, California.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
US power plants are poised to reap their best summertime profits in nearly two decades thanks to soaring electricity prices that are outpacing the high costs of natural gas and coal.
On America’s largest grid, stretching from New Jersey to Illinois, a key metric for gauging the profitability of coal plants has nearly quadrupled from a year ago to $43 per megawatt-hour, according to Energy Aspects Ltd., an electricity research and data provider. In Texas, it’s up almost 10-fold for gas plants, said BloombergNEF.