For over a century coal has been among the main sources of electricity generation in the United States. Although it lost its position as
to natural gas in 2016, coal energy is still widely used around the country. In fact, there is a large number of
by 2030 despite greater efforts and incentives by the government to reduce reliance on this heavily polluting fossil fuel.
Coal consumption within the electricity sector
The electric power sector is by far the largest consumer of coal. As the use of coal power has declined over the past decade, so too decreased overall
U.S. coal energy consumption with figures falling below 10,000 trillion British thermal units from 2020 onward. Coal power plants are usually more heavily used in the summer months, when electricity demand is higher due to greater need for air conditioning.
Costs of coal for electricity generation and regional variances
Its comparatively cheap cost is one of the reasons why the power sector is holding on to coal. A look at
natural gas vis a vis coal prices shows that coal prices are less volatile and often notably lower than for natural gas, with the latter tied to oil production and as such the oil market. Texas tops the ranking for
U.S. coal power capacity by state, although it is not the state with the most number of plants and is also not serviced by the leading
U.S. coal power generating utilities. PacifiCorp, which mainly provides electricity to customers in Oregon and Utah, generates around 28 terawatt hours of coal power every year, more than any other utility in the country.
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