Coal production down sharply in 2016; Wyoming still No. 1; Kentucky drops from 3rd to 4th - Entrepreneur Generations

Powder River Basin coal sites
(U.S. Geological Survey graphic)

Coal production in the Powder River Basin in 2016 reached its lowest levels in 20 years, reports The Associated Press. Official coal production tallies for the basin for 2016 were 285.2 million tons of coal, the first time since 1998 the region failed to surpass 300 million tons. In 1998 the total was 293.4 million tons. Last year's total was down 78.1 million tons from 2015, the largest single-year drop ever for the basin.

Overall, the state produced 293 million tons, seven million tons lower than projections from economics, Heather Richards reports for the Casper Star Tribune. The final total was still "higher than expectations earlier in the year when the coal sector appeared to have hit rock bottom. Since 2013, competition with natural gas, the retirement of coal-fired power plants and environmental regulations have led to slowing production of coal, leading to 30-year price lows and the mass Wyoming layoffs of last spring."

"Production generally averages around 100 million tons per quarter in Wyoming, but that figure dipped to 86 million tons in the second quarter of 2015 before the bankruptcy run," Richards writes. "By the spring of last year, coal production in Wyoming had hit an unheard of low—60 million tons. Forecasts for the future of the coal industry have been varied, but most show an eventual decline as natural gas competition and utility demand changes the landscape for U.S. electricity generation."

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2khFT05 Coal production down sharply in 2016; Wyoming still No. 1; Kentucky drops from 3rd to 4th - Entrepreneur Generations

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