Benchmarks

Strange bedfellows may provide a new supply option.

Justifiable concerns associated with high natural gas prices have led analysts to consider the implications for new capacity development over the next decade. Expectations regarding the continued dominance of natural gas-fired units have begun to change. For example, in its , the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects 112 GW of new coal-fired generating capacity to be constructed between 2003 and 2025-a 51 percent increase over EIA's 2003 forecast. Despite the recent lapse of the production tax credit, wind power also is a strong candidate to displace future gas-fired investments. According to Platts Research & Consulting's , the domestic wind energy portfolio has the potential to grow from 6.2 GW to more than 25 GW by 2010.