If your air conditioner is running, thank the fossil fuel industry. 4:00 pm, Jul. 20, 2021 × Coal Creek Station power plant near Underwood, N.D. Special to The Forum MINOT, N.D. — It's been a hot summer, as is often the case in our part of the world. This week, in particular, has been a scorcher. We've all been leaning on our electrical grid to keep those air conditioners running and our homes and offices bearable. And guess which source of energy has been keeping those air conditioners running? It's not been solar but the much-maligned coal plants. The ones the various activists and green energy lobbyists have been telling us are irrelevant.