INDA
Heat wave, meet the grid
India's power demand is getting cooked by a brutal combo of extreme heat and strained energy supplies. As electricity use climbs, the country is burning more coal — because when the ACs are blasting, reliability suddenly outranks clean-energy talking points.
Gas got the short end of the stick
LNG prices have risen enough to make gas-fired generation less competitive. In plain English: if coal is the cheaper, easier backup, utilities are going to reach for the dusty old hammer instead of the shinier wrench.
Why investors should care
This is a reminder that energy markets don't move in neat little straight lines. They lurch around weather, wars, and commodity prices, and countries like India are often forced to choose the least-bad option in real time.
- More coal burn can support seaborne thermal coal demand.
- Higher LNG prices can pressure gas-linked power economics.
- Extreme heat can turn a normal seasonal demand bump into a full-on stress test for the grid.
Big picture: when the weather gets nasty and geopolitics tighten supply, the energy transition doesn't vanish — it just gets shoved aside until the lights stay on.