U.S. coal generation is — TWh/year — down from a peak of
— TWh in —, roughly —%
lower today. Subbituminous coal from the Powder River Basin (Wyoming + Montana)
is now the fuel mix's largest single source — low-sulfur, low-BTU, cheap to mine,
railed east to plants across the Midwest and South. Bituminous coal from
Appalachia (WV, KY, PA) has the higher BTU content but is the rank in fastest
structural decline as legacy eastern plants retire.
Bituminous (Appalachian)Subbituminous (PRB)Lignite (TX, ND)bar length ∝ TWh/year · BTU content: bit ≈ 12,500 / sub ≈ 8,800 / lig ≈ 6,500
Total coal generation
—
vs 5 yrs ago
—
vs 2010 peak
—
peak — · — TWh
Coal plants operating
—
down from ~547 in 2010
Share of U.S. generation
—
~45% in 2010 · ~16% today
SOURCE · U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly (Table 1.1.A
net generation by source and Table 7.2.A coal consumption for electric power by
rank). Per-state numbers are EIA EPM Table 1.6.B. The 2010 peak is the all-time high
for U.S. coal generation (~2,010 TWh); 2007 was the all-time peak for coal's share
of U.S. electricity (~49%). Powder River Basin coal (Wyoming) became dominant
after the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments tightened SO₂ limits, because PRB sub has
roughly half the sulfur content of Appalachian bit per BTU. Plant retirements
began accelerating around 2012 when the MATS rule, then cheap shale gas, then
Renewable Portfolio Standards stacked on the marginal cost curve. The figure for
"coal plants operating" counts operational utility-scale power plants with at least
one coal-fired unit; Form EIA-860 is the source. About 250 GW of coal capacity has
retired since 2010, replaced mostly by gas combined-cycle plus wind & solar.