I have previously warned about prematurely retiring fossil fuel plants before they can be replaced with equally capable alternatives that will not jeopardize either the reliability or affordability of electricity. Unfortunately, there is now a real word example, in the State of Hawaii, where power outages have occurred following the early retirement of a (middle-aged) coal plant (credit to the Energy Bad Boys). The authors lament that “[T]this is a lesson lawmakers throughout the country should learn, but we’re not holding our breath.”