With the midterm elections just days away, more than 100 million Americans will cast ballots to determine the makeup of our government next year. Many issues are front of mind for voters, but few are as important as access to energy and its rising costs. On this issue, pragmatism is clearly a better choice than partisanship, and keeping our reliable coal plants operating remains critical regardless of the election results.
That pragmatism is already on display in Pennsylvania, where the Keystone and Conemaugh coal plants were scheduled to close at the end of 2028. In April this year, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration sought court approval for an agreement that would allow them to operate through 2032. Republican U.S. Senator Dave McCormick joined him in support of the deal. Why? Because together, the two plants provide roughly 3,400 megawatts of generating capacity. That is enough energy to power more than 2.5 million homes.
The Pennsylvania example is a decision made by politicians who understand that losing coal-powered electricity as demand soars will only reduce access and increase prices. Customers understand this as well. A PowerLines poll conducted by Ipsos and released in May found that 77 percent of Americans who pay electricity or gas bills were concerned their bills would rise this year. Families trying to plan their spending need an affordability agenda that makes use of the generating capacity already serving them.
Manufacturers are confronting a related problem that deserves more attention in the coal debate. In a 2025 letter to Congress, the Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA), representing companies with more than 12,000 U.S. facilities, urged utilities to avoid premature coal plant closures as they face deeply constrained natural gas pipeline capacity. These companies buy enormous amounts of energy.
Many factories use natural gas directly as fuel or feedstock, in addition to consuming electricity. When pipeline capacity is tight, they must compete for gas with power generation and heating demand. IECA warned that manufacturers are first in line for curtailments when supplies cannot meet those competing needs. In 2025, pipelines curtailed gas supply to manufacturers more than 40 times. The reality is that a country can produce abundant natural gas and still face challenges getting it where it is needed.
Keeping coal generation available can relieve the pressure on constrained natural gas pipeline capacity by reducing the power sector’s call on natural gas. It preserves a choice that becomes particularly valuable when demand surges or gas prices spike.
Grid planners have reached a similar conclusion about the value of keeping existing coal capacity available as operators face mounting reliability and affordability challenges. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s Long-Term Reliability Assessment recommends mechanisms to extend the service of generators needed for reliability. It calls for faster development of new resources. Adding new generation and preserving needed capacity are complementary decisions.
It’s also important to keep in mind that electricity demand is only going up. NERC is projecting summer peak demand and winter demand to jump by over 225 gigawatts (GW) and 245 GW, respectively, over the next decade—an amount roughly needed for 150 million homes. Explosive growth of data centers is expected to drive demand. Meeting it will require permitting decisions and investment in new generation now, but bringing new capacity to the grid is a time intensive and deeply challenging process.
Americans understand the timing problem of waiting for new electricity generation to come online. In September, a Harris Poll survey found 58 percent support government efforts to keep coal plants open for reliability and affordability until replacement capacity is built and operating. Only 18 percent opposed.
This support should give policymakers and grid operators the confidence to lean into energy pragmatism. Keeping the coal fleet available – and even making investments in plants to improve the efficiency of the fleet – is what the grid needs and what Americans want.