Coal news and updates

Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to resurrect the ailing U.S. coal industry and put miners back to work. Delivering on that vow could prove nearly impossible.

 

Electric utilities that buy more than 95% of the coal mined in America have already retired hundreds of their coal-burning power plants from Colorado to Connecticut—amounting to about a third of the total capacity—and have plans to mothball even more.

 

While in Appalachia earlier this year, Mr. Trump pledged to “bring the coal industry back, 100%” by rolling back environmental regulations. But coal’s biggest problem is that it is no longer the cheapest fossil fuel around. It is being displaced by natural gas.

American Electric Power Co. of Columbus, Ohio, one of the nation’s biggest utility companies, has sold or retired half its fleet of coal-burning power plants in recent years. No matter who occupies the White House, “it’s not coming back,” said Nick Akins, AEP’s chief executive.

 

Even if Mr. Trump makes good on his campaign promise to relax or repeal pending limits on carbon emissions, it won’t be enough to restore coal’s market share. “We’re moving to a cleaner-energy economy and we’re still getting pressure from investors to reduce carbon emissions,” Mr. Akins said. “I don’t see that changing.”

 

Investors love gas-burning power plants because they take less time to construct, cost less to operate and convert fuel into electricity with greater efficiency. Gas has just half the carbon emissions of coal and, thanks to the U.S. drilling boom, most of the country is now flush with new supplies.

 

Since the 2008 recession, the gas glut has become so acute that prices have plunged by more than 60% while coal has been relatively stable, federal data show.

SOurce:WSJ.COm