The retirement of aging coal-fired plants combined with the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act has created an opportunity for public power utilities looking to secure long-term, reliable supplies of clean energy, according to advanced nuclear firm NuScale Power.

The City of Columbus, Ohio’s Department of Public Utilities recently put into operation its first-ever solar-powered microgrid.

By the end of the year, eight natural gas-fired combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants have either come online or are scheduled to do so, reversing a four-year decline in CCGT start-ups, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).