A year after Trump's election, coal's future remains bleak
A Reuters review of mining data shows an industry that has seen only modest gains in jobs and production this year - much of it from a temporary uptick in foreign demand for U.S. coal rather than presidential policy changes.
U.S. utilities are shutting coal-fired power plants at a rapid pace and shifting to cheap natural gas, along with wind and solar power. And domestic demand makes up about 90 percent of the market for U.S. coal.
”We’re not planning to build any additional coal facilities,“ said Melissa McHenry, a spokeswoman for American Electric Power, one of the largest U.S. utilities.
Trump’s Energy Secretary, Rick Perry, is attempting to push a rule through the independent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that would subsidize power plants that store at least a 90-day supply of coal on site. The goal is to extend the life of some coal burning power plants.
The industry has lost more than 40 percent of its work force in less than a decade and seen production drop to its lowest levels since 1978.
Its share of the power market has fallen to less than a third from about half in 2003.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trump-effect-coal-revival/a-year-after-trumps-election-coals-future-remains-bleak-idUSKBN1DD0IA
= new reply since forum marked as read
