The 2008 Department of Energy foresaw the electric industry turning away from coal toward natural gas-based generation for baseload power. In a white paper, the DOE warned against swapping out coal for natural gas. The February blackouts in Texas brought this lesson home. Natural gas is a premium fuel that is used for home heating and industrial purposes besides generating electricity. It also takes an infrastructure of gas wells, plants, pipelines and compressors to move the fuel to market. Natural gas prices are also more volatile than coal. So when it comes to resilient baseload power supply, it’s hard to be a stockpile of coal sitting next to a power plant.