# Coal takes the lead in organized markets after cold snap, but dominance won't last long | Utility Dive

> Cold weather across the Northeast and Midwest pushed natural gas prices higher and led coal to overtake gas in PJM's generation mix. In New England, gas was diverted to heating and oil and diesel replaced gas at power plants, and the grid held up despite the Pilgrim nuclear outage.

- Date: 2018-01-09 · published 2018-01-09T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: weather · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/5982-coal-takes-the-lead-in-organized-markets-after-cold-snap-but-dominance-won-t
- Commodities: [Natural Gas](https://feedsoft.ai/c/NATGAS.md)

## Why it matters

Higher gas prices shifted generation toward coal, which reflects a gas-price-driven demand swing; analysts expect the coal advantage to fade as conditions normalize.

## Read by commodity

- NATGAS: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NATGAS | 2018-01-03 | [U.S. gas market faces long-awaited test as cold spurs demand](https://feedsoft.ai/events/4671-u-s-gas-market-faces-long-awaited-test-as-cold-spurs-demand.md) | -33.0% | -27.6% |
| NATGAS | 2025-10-20 | [Cold Snap Ignites US Natural Gas Market, Reshaping Winter Outlook](https://feedsoft.ai/events/7792-cold-snap-ignites-us-natural-gas-market-reshaping-winter-outlook.md) | +15.3% | +41.4% |
| NATGAS | 2019-03-02 | [Record-Breaking Cold Blast in U.S. Will Roil Markets Next Week - Bloomberg](https://feedsoft.ai/events/7995-record-breaking-cold-blast-in-u-s-will-roil-markets-next-week-bloomberg.md) | -4.6% | -10.7% |
| NATGAS | 2016-11-02 | [Why natural gas supply will be crucial in preventing winter power outages \| Utility Dive](https://feedsoft.ai/events/9179-why-natural-gas-supply-will-be-crucial-in-preventing-winter-power-outages.md) | -8.4% | +16.8% |
| NATGAS | 2026-01-20 | [Natural gas prices soar as cold snap blasts across the U.S.](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6506-natural-gas-prices-soar-as-cold-snap-blasts-across-the-u-s.md) | +323.2% | -0.0% |

## Sources

- utilitydive.com: https://www.utilitydive.com/news/coal-takes-the-lead-in-organized-markets-after-cold-snap-but-dominance-won/514342/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.