Despite the Trump administration’s attempts to prop up coal, the industry continues its long decline, and stories of plant closings, bankruptcies, and lenders exiting the sector continue to climb. Coal use in the US has plummeted, in 2018 reaching its lowest level in 40 years. Worldwide production peaked in 2013 and has trended down since. And the average capacity factor (the percentage of time a plant is actually burning coal and producing power) continues to drop and is now around 50%–so even the remaining plants are using less coal, producing less power, and becoming less economically viable.

The decline was first fueled by cheap gas, and has been accelerated by the declining cost of renewables, which, unsubsidized, now undercut coal (and frequently gas) in many places. This newsletter could have been twice as long–the obits for coal plants, companies, and funding are everywhere. Coal is an entrenched industry with disproportionate political influence, but its inexorable fate is becoming increasingly clear, and the speed at which it’s occurring continues to increase.