coal

The Trump administration during both its terms has prioritized its efforts on reviving the coal industry by introducing a series of policy changes and executive actions intended to boost coal leasing and production on federal lands. Yet, despite these political moves, coal’s trajectory in the U.S. energy market has followed a different path.

Entergy Arkansas, the utility that provides electricity to about 735,000 customers in 63 counties in that state, announced a plan to add about 2.6 GW of new power generation capacity, in part by converting old coal-fired units to burn natural gas. It also is renewing the operating license for the 1.8-GW Arkansas Nuclear One power plant, the state’s only nuclear power station, with plans to invest in new equipment that would increase the facility’s output.

An energy company focused on supporting artificial intelligence (AI) through infrastructure has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a Utah-based nuclear power services company, as the groups evaluate ways to provide electricity for a massive data center campus in that state.

The lone remaining coal-fired power plant in the state of Washington will shut down at the end of December, and will be converted to burn natural gas. Operator TransAlta Corp. on December 9 signed an agreement with Puget Sound Energy (PSE) for the transition, with a 16-year, fixed-price contract for the gas-fired generation that runs through 2044.

“The result of the 2024 presidential election probably had the biggest impact on the direction the U.S. energy industry is headed right now,” Brandy Johnson, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) with Babcock & Wilcox (B&W), told POWER. “It has opened up the pathway for fossil fuels in power generation again.” That shift is already visible across […]

For years, some folks have considered coal-fired power plants relics of a bygone era, overshadowed by the rise of natural gas and renewables. Yet, in an unexpected twist, coal is finding its way back into the

An energy research group said U.S. power generation capacity will be led by solar power in the short term, natural gas in the mid term, and nuclear power in the long term as coal-fired units continue to be retired.

The retirement of older thermal power generation facilities, driven by a transition to cleaner forms of energy, has increased in recent years as utilities and other power generators mothball plants that are uneconomic or simply no longer needed.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) providing up to $100 million in federal backing for projects focused on restoring and modernizing the nation’s existing coal plant fleet.  The Oct. 31–issued NOFO, administered by DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) under the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, […]

For more than a decade, the U.S. coal industry has been in decline — with waning investment, shrinking capacity, and the steady rise of gas and renewables. Yet, in 2025, a different story is emerging. Across the country, coal units once scheduled for quiet retirement are being called back into service in ways few anticipated—driven […]

Officials with Denmark-headquartered Aalborg CSP said the company has developed technology that could convert retired coal-fired power plants into thermal storage facilities for renewable energy.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has redrawn the U.S. energy sector map. By scaling back clean energy tax credits and easing regulations on fossil fuels, the act has simultaneously cooled renewable investment and reignited traditional energy expansion. For dealmakers in the energy industry, this has created both headwinds and new openings, especially in […]

FirstEnergy Corp. has submitted a plan to build a new 1,200-MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plant to serve customers in West Virginia. The company recently filed an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) with state regulators that also calls for keeping two major coal-fired power plants in West Virginia operating at least through the next decade.

Regional areas of India are withdrawing incentives for renewable energy projects and instead signing long-term contracts to buy more coal-fired power generation.

Duke Energy announced plans to build more natural gas-fired generation capacity and look at nuclear power in order to meet the increased demand for power in its Carolinas service territory. The utility also said it will delay the retirement of some coal-fired facilities as it seeks to increase the supply of electricity for data centers and manufacturing plants.

Xcel Energy is adding more natural gas-fired power generation in Texas, with plans to convert a retiring coal-fired plant to natural gas, along with building a new peaker plant to provide electricity at times of high demand.

The NTPC Vindhyachal Thermal Power Station, with an installed generation capacity of 4,783 MW, comprises 13 coal-fired units and includes solar and hydropower installations. The plant continues to implement advanced emission-control technologies as part of India’s broader decarbonization strategy.

A Chinese state-owned energy infrastructure group has proposed a decarbonization plan that would increase the country’s use of nuclear power. The China Energy Engineering Group Co. (CEEC) is studying ways to convert retiring coal-fired power facilities into nuclear power plants, according to recent research reports.

A long-dormant coal mine waste site in Pennsylvania has new life, providing solar power to the local community thanks to a groundbreaking tracking system enabling installation across challenging terrain.

Kansas regulators have given Evergy the go-ahead to raise the utility’s rates to help finance construction of two new natural gas-fired power plants, along with a utility-scale solar power project, in the state.

County commissioners in North Dakota have signed off on a rezoning request from a local energy provider, a move that means a large coal-fired power plant could be used to supply electricity to a new industrial park.

GE Vernova said the first of three blocks of a major natural gas-fired power plant in Taiwan is now online. The company on July 7 said the first 1.3-GW unit of the Hsinta power station is operating, part of the facility’s transition from burning coal to using natural gas.

A utility that serves customers in Missouri announced it plans to build an 800-MW natural gas-fired power plant, along with the company’s first large-scale battery energy storage facility, at a site near St. Louis.

Ireland is no longer burning coal to produce electricity after the country’s last coal-fired unit was converted to use heavy fuel oil. ESB, the plant’s operator, on June 20 issued a notice that the 305-MW Unit 3 of the Moneypoint station, located on Ireland’s southwest coast, has ended its use of coal after 40 years. ESB previously had said Moneypoint after the conversion would operate under direct dispatch instructions from EirGrid, the grid operator, as part of the balancing market.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced sweeping changes to regulations on emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) and other pollutants from coal- and natural gas-fired power plants, weakening rules established under the Biden administration that sought to combat climate change.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on June 11 proposed to repeal the agency’s Carbon Rule. America’s Power president and CEO Michelle Bloodworth released the following statement: “America’s Power commends EPA for proposing to repeal the Carbon Rule. The repeal will make our nation’s electricity system more reliable and electricity prices more affordable, and enable […]

The Trump administration moved forward with a controversial market intervention last month, ordering the aging J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant in Michigan to remain open through the summer. The plant had been slated for retirement on May 31, and the unprecedented move, relying on the administration’s previous declaration of an energy emergency, raises a host […]

Regulators in Wisconsin have approved We Energies’ plan to invest about $1.5 billion for construction of two new natural gas-fired power plants in the southeastern part of the state. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin on May 22 said it backs the utility’s proposal for gas-fired facilities in Oak Creek in Milwaukee County, and Paris […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has confirmed it  is drafting a plan to eliminate all limits on greenhouse gases (GHG) from coal- and natural gas-fired power plants. The EPA on May 24 said a new rule on emissions would be published after interagency review.

A fleet of 100 Huaneng Ruichi autonomous electric mining trucks, the first of its kind in the world, has officially entered operation at the Yimin open-pit mine in Inner Mongolia, China. Powered by a 5G-Advanced (5G-A) network, the mine became the world’s first open-pit mine to achieve large-scale vehicle-cloud-network synergy, which has greatly improved production […]