Grid operator decides Brayton Point plant should stay open for electricity reliabilty

The New England market joins others, including Germany's, in attempting to keep open generators not currently economical in order to maintain the reliability of the grid.

I previously noted Brayton Point's situation in Coal-fired power plants face extinction in New England

Grid operator decides Brayton Point plant should stay open for electricity reliabilty - Boston Business Journal:

You can’t pull the plug on the biggest coal-fired power plant in New England without causing some sort of ripple effect.
That’s what ISO New England is saying about Brayton Point, the power plant that towers over Mount Hope Bay in Somerset. And as the electricity grid’s overseers, the analysts at ISO would be in a good position to know.
...
ISO can reimburse some of these plants for being available on high-demand days – times of extreme heat or cold. But plant owners are finding that the reimbursements available through this so-called capacity market aren’t enough to merit keeping a full-time staff going year-round at these plants. The rise of cheap gas from fracking has taken out a number of rivals already: Less than 4 percent of New England’s electricity came from oil and coal in 2012, compared with 40 percent a decade ago.
This is just another sign that we could be becoming too reliant on natural gas.

Read the entire article at the Boston Business Journal