If a major coal plant goes down and no one notices, can it impact reliability?

Utility Dive: Montana has reduced its coal-fired capacity down to 37% from around 55% in 2015, according to a report this year from the state's Legislative Services Division. The decline in Montana mirrors resource changes across the country, and is part of the reason the White House is discussing plans to halt more power plant retirements.

But it is also why the shutdown of Colstrip, and how little news it generated, is significant. While the older Colstrip units are being phased out, units 3 and 4 were expected to continue operating.

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