The New York Times reports on a recent boom in electricity demand in the U.S. that is putting pressure on conventional gas power plants, quoting United's CEO and President Heather O'Neill on the variety of options available for utilities to meet rising demand.
Critics say that regulated utilities often default to building gas plants because it’s a familiar technology and because, in many states, they earn a guaranteed profit from capital projects. They don’t always have the same incentive to adopt energy-efficiency programs that reduce sales or to plan transmission lines that can import cheaper wind power from elsewhere.