"At first glance, the power plant located just north of New York City was certainly living up to a name given the surrounding area 400 years earlier: The devil’s dance chamber, or “Danskammer” in the original Dutch."

"It was 2013, and executives from Mercuria Energy Group Ltd., a Swiss commodities house best known for its oil and products trading, were assessing whether to invest in a waterlogged mess of a power plant. Perched along the Hudson River, the 60-year-old Danskammer Generation Station took on 14 feet of water in Hurricane Sandy, and sat unheated and idle through two subsequent winters. Pipes had burst, pumps and motors failed and thousands of miles of electrical wiring were ruined."

"Yet, Mercuria saw promise. After renovations costing just $25 million, the company now has the plant operating again, putting it among a growing list of private investors trying to spin new wealth from old power plants as the economic model for big utilities cracks apart."