Coal Closures Double in 2018

According to the S&P Global Market Intelligence, compared to the past five years 2018 has proven to be a big year for coal closures. Roughly 14.3 gigawatts of energy will no longer be produced through coal plants in the U.S. This is double the closures in 2017. Additionally, 2019 is off to a sizeable start, with 4.4 gigawatts of coal producing energy slated to close within this year already. That puts the year on track to surpass 2014’s coal closures and is over half of 2017’s coal closings.

Many of the closures are clustered in Appalachia and the Midwest, regions whose local economies used to rely heavily on coal mining. Several contributing factors went into the plant closures, including higher operation costs, aging plants, regulatory uncertainty, and unfavorable public sentiment around coal-fired energy.