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U.S. electric power plants held a total of 138 million short tons of coal at the end of May, the highest level since the slump in power and coal demand at the start of the pandemic in early 2020, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Monday.
In recent years, coal stocks at power plants in the spring – when they are at the year’s highest in preparation for summer demand – have dropped from record highs due to the lower overall share of coal in U.S. power generation.
For example, the U.S. power sector consumed 385 million tons of coal last year, which was down by 43% compared to 2016. Coal stockpiles stood at 131 million tons as of the end of 2023. This was 19% lower than the stockpiles at the end of 2016, according to the EIA data.
Most coal consumption in the United States typically occurs during the summer and winter, and power generators begin to raise their coal stocks in the spring.
Currently, U.S. coal-fired power plants have enough coal on hand to generate electricity for 60 days or more, the EIA said.
Coal has lost market share in the U.S. power sector as the shares of renewable energy and natural gas have increased.
Despite a continuous decline in U.S. coal power generation, the share of coal in America’s electricity mix is still above 15%, more than any renewable energy source.
All renewable energy sources combined—wind, solar, hydropower, biomass, and geothermal—surpassed coal-fired generation in the U.S. electric power sector for the first time in 2022. But coal still holds about 16% share of electricity generation, more than wind’s share of around 11%, hydropower’s 6%, or solar power’s 4% share of the electric generation mix.
Although coal’s share has been falling, coal is still playing a role in providing reliable baseload electricity, and its share and contribution to the U.S. power system isn’t negligible at all.
