HOUSTON (AP) - A Central Texas coal-fired electric generating plant is being shut down this summer, cutting the state's biggest electric power grid's reserve capacity for meeting summer demand.

The Houston Chronicle reports the Texas Municipal Power Agency has notified the Electric Reliability Council of Texas that it won't operate its Gibbons Creek Generating Station this summer. That comes after three coal-fired plants owned by Irving-based Vistra Energy were shut down last year.

The loss of the Gibbons Creek plant would cut the projected margin of reserve power this summer to 7.4 percent, almost half of ERCOT's goal of a 13.7 percent margin of reserve power to meet unexpected surges in demand. That increases the risk of power supply shortages, surging prices, and at worst, blackouts and brownouts.

Information from: Houston Chronicle, http://www.houstonchronicle.com

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