Dive Brief:

• This winter's harsh weather is a reminder that the U.S. must keep a diverse power plant fleet – including coal and nuclear plants, according to the Edison Electric Institute, a trade group for investor-owned utilities.
• Grid operators may provide incentives to keep older coal and nuclear plants operating longer, according to analysts.

Dive Insight:

The Northeast, especially, has been growing increasingly dependent on natural gas-fired power plants, but doesn't have the pipeline infrastructure to match its needs. We'll be watching to see if grid operators make special efforts to keep some of the region's older plants operating longer than they would otherwise. However, efforts are already underway to increase the region's gas pipeline capacity and to build more transmission lines, so this issue may fade.