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Dominion Energy, Inc. and Vista Energy Corp. are companies that serve approximately 5.5 million customers with electricity in more than 10 states in the U.S. They announced that they won’t be building natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plants anymore.

The companies announced that from now on, they will build solar plants that offer inexpensive electricity.

A Potential Threat to Companies?

This unpleasant view of fossil-fuel energy and more accepting renewable power sources could be a potential threat to companies. One of them is General Electric Co. A new way of powering could be an obstacle for John Flannery’s company that has annual revenue of $35 billion.

On Wednesday, Flannery, CEO of General Electric, defined the difficulties. According to him, power profits fell by 53% in 2017 and will remain flat this year. He added that GE thinks that the demand for heavy-duty natural gas power plants is going to be even less than half from a year ago. He thinks that it will stay that way through 2020.

It Will Be Okay in the Long Run?

On Wednesday, at an investor conference, Flannery said that new plant sales are going to be resilient. He said that this won’t fix the problem quickly, but that at the end of the day, they provide long-term advantages with natural economic value. He said that his company will do what is within their power.

Rusell Stokes and Flannery, leaders of GE Power, said that demand for natural gas power generators and electricity will grow approximately 2% annually. This statement matches the global forecast.

Global Sales Fall

McCoy Power Reports stated that large natural gas power plant sales have lowered worldwide by half since 2013. Gas and coal plants now make just 38% of the electricity used, according to the reports from last year. This is down from 71% just a decade ago, Thomson Reuters reports. Their analysis shows that wind and solar plants now make 53% of electricity, up from 22%.

Questions from the American People:

Is GE behind the times? Or are they continuing with a proven business model?