A few months ago, a power plant in Chicago looked like it was finally heading for the exit.
The Fisk Generating Station — an old site that includes oil-fired “peaker” units — had a retirement date on the calendar. Then the economics changed. Higher prices and tighter reliability margins made the plant suddenly useful again, and its owner pulled back the retirement notice, arguing it now had a case to keep running.
That small reversal captures a bigger shift happening across parts of the US power system: the clean transition is still moving forward, but the AI boom is bending the path.
