[ams6110]

It's pretty rare to invest in small scale, local fossil fuel power generation.

I think you're ignoring the diesel or natural gas fueled generators that are now installed at most supermarkets, many office buildings, and even apartment buildings and private homes. They are everywhere these days; even 10 years ago you didn't see them as much.

[toomuchtodo]

I think you misunderstand OP. You're confusion backup generation (what you mentioned) with full time petroleum generation. Small towns aren't running their own coal plants, and the only geographic region I'm aware of running petroleum generation is Hawaii, which is why their power is so expensive, and they're moving to solar and utility scale battery storage at breakneck speeds.