This is a list of the 216 operational coal-fired power stations in the United States.
Coal generated 16% of electricity in the United States in 2023,[1] an amount less than that from renewable energy or nuclear power,[2][3] and about half of that generated by natural gas plants. Coal was 17% of generating capacity.[4]
Between 2010 and May 2019, 290 coal power plants, representing 40% of the U.S. coal generating capacity, closed. This was mainly due to competition from other generating sources, primarily cheaper and cleaner natural gas, as a result of the fracking boom, which has replaced so many coal plants that natural gas in 2019 accounted for 40% of the total electricity generation in the U.S., as well as the decrease in the cost of renewables.[5] However, some coal plants remain profitable because costs to other people due to the health and environmental impact of the coal industry (estimated to average 5 cents per kWh)[6][7] are not priced into the cost of generation. Some coal plants are considering only operating during periods of higher electricity demand, from December to February and from June to August.[8] Most plants are expected to close by 2039.[9]
- ^ "New renewable power plants are reducing U.S. electricity generation from natural gas". Energy Information Administration. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
- ^ "U.S. renewable energy consumption surpasses coal for the first time in over 130 years". Energy Information Administration. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
- ^ "U.S. coal-fired electricity generation in 2019 falls to 42-year low". Energy Information Administration. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
- ^ "America's Electricity Generating Capacity". American Public Power Association. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
- ^ "50 US coal power plants shut under Trump". phys.org. May 9, 2019.
In total, 289 have closed since 2010, comprising 40 percent of the US's coal power capacity, while an additional 241 plants remain open. ... Since the fracking boom began around a decade ago, coal has become more expensive to exploit than natural gas, which is experiencing strong growth in the United States and increasingly replacing coal. ... By this summer, coal is on course to provide only 25 percent of the US energy mix from its share of 35 percent in 2015. ... Meanwhile, natural gas will account for 40 percent of the power supply, according to an analysis published Thursday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
- ^ https://haas.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/WP294.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ Davis, Lucas (September 21, 2020). "Time to Vote Out Coal". Energy Institute Blog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
- ^ "As U.S. coal-fired capacity and utilization decline, operators consider seasonal operation". Energy Information Administration. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ^ McGeady, Cy (May 10, 2024). "The EPA Power Plant Rule amid Demand Growth".