Coal mining is an industry in transition in the United States. Production in 2023 was down about 50% from the peak production of in 2008. Employment of 45,000 coal miners is down from a peak of 883,000 in 1923. Electricity generation is the largest use of coal, being used to produce 50% of electric power in 2005 and 15% in 2024. The U.S. is a net exporter of coal. U.S. coal exports, for which Europe is the largest customer, peaked in 2012. In 2022, the U.S. exported 14 percent of mined coal.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), in 2015, Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, and Pennsylvania produced about , representing 71% of total coal production in the United States.

In 2015, four publicly traded U.S. coal companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, including Patriot Coal Corporation, Walter Energy, and the fourth-largest Alpha Natural Resources. By January 2016, more than 25% of coal production was in bankruptcy in the United States including the top two producers Peabody Energy and Arch Coal. When Arch Coal filed for bankruptcy protection, the price of coal had dropped 50% since 2011 and it was $4.5 billion in debt. On October 5, 2016, Arch Coal emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In October 2018, Westmoreland Coal Company filed for bankruptcy protection. On May 10, 2019, the third largest U.S. coal company by production, Cloud Peak Energy, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. On October 29, 2019, Murray Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

In 2022 the Energy Information Administration projected that the use of coal as a source of electrity generation in the U.S. would decline from 23% in 2021 to 10% in 2050.

History

Coal, primarily from underground mines east of the Mississippi, was the nation's primary fuel source until the early 1950s. Surface (strip) and mountaintop removal mining overtook underground mines in the 1970s. In 2000, the majority of coal was produced west of the Mississippi.

Production

In 2018, coal mining decreased to 755 million short tons, and American coal consumption reached its lowest point in nearly 40 years. In 2017, U.S. coal mining had increased to 775 million short tons. In 2016, US coal mining declined to 728.2 million short tons, down 37 percent from the peak production of 1,172 million tons in 2008. In 2015, 896.9 million short tons of coal were mined in the United States,US Energy Information Administration, Table 1 Coal Production, Annual Coal Report, 2015. with an average price of $31.83 per short ton,US Energy Information Administration, Table 28, Average Price of Coal, Annual Coal Report, 2015. worth $28.6 billion.

Coal in the US (million short tons) ProductionAnnual coal production, US Energy Information Administration. Retrieved Apr. 2016.Quarterly coal production, US Energy Information Administration. Retrieved January 2025. Net exports Net available 2000 1,074 46 1,008 2001 1,128 29 1,099 2002 1,094 23 1,071 2003 1,072 18 1,054 2004 1,112 21 1,091 2005 1,131 19 1,112 2006 1,163 13 1,150 2007 1,147 23 1,124 2008 1,172 47 1,125 2009 1,075 36 1,039 2010 1,084 62 1,022 2011 1,096 94 1,002 2012 1,016 117 899 2013 985 109 876 2014 1,000 86 914 2015 896 63 833 2016 739 51 688 2017 775 97 678 2018 756 116 640 2019 706 94 612 2020 535 69 466 2021 577 85 492 2022 594 86 508 2023 578 100 4782024512106406

Coal production by region

The three regions producing the largest amount of coal are Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana, the Appalachian Basin, and the Illinois Basin. In the United States, coal production declined from 2008, but the decline was unevenly distributed. Production from the largest coal mining-region in the U.S., the Powder River Basin, with most of the coal buried too deeply to be economically accessible, declined 16 percent, the Appalachian Basin declined 32 percent 2008 to 2014, and the Illinois Basin increased its production 39 percent from 2008 to 2014.Coal browser, US Energy Information Administration. Retrieved April 16, 2016. In 2015, five states—Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, and Pennsylvania—produced almost 3/4 of all coal production nationwide. Wyoming produced 375.8 million short tons representing 42% of U. S. coal production, West Virginia produced 95.6 million short tons or 11%, Kentucky was third with 61.4 or 7%, Illinois was fourth with 56.1 or 6%, and Pennsylvania was fifth with 50.0 or 6%.

, twenty-five states produced coal. The coal-producing states were, in descending order, with annual production in millions of short tons:Coal data browser, US Energy Information Administration. Retrieved April 16, 2016.

+2014 to 2018 US coal production (million short tons) Rank State 2014 2018 % Change Notes 1Wyoming 395.7 304.2 -23% (see Coal mining in Wyoming) 2West Virginia 112.2 95.4 -15% 3Pennsylvania 60.9 49.9 -18% 4Illinois 58 49.6 -14% (see Illinois#Coal) 5Kentucky 77.3 39.6 -49% (see Coal mining in Kentucky) 6Montana 44.6 38.6 -13% 7Indiana 39.3 34.6 -12% 8North Dakota 29.2 29.6 1% 9Texas 43.7 24.8 -43% 10Alabama 16.4 14.8 -10% 11Colorado 24 14 -42% (see Coal mining in Colorado) 12Utah 17.9 13.6 -24% 13Virginia 15.1 12.7 -16% 14New Mexico 22 10.8 -51% 15Ohio 22.3 9 -60% 16Arizona 8.1 6.6 -19% 17Mississippi 3.7 2.9 -22% 18Louisiana 2.6 1.5 -42% 19Maryland 2 1.3 -35% 20Alaska 1.5 0.9 -40% 21Oklahoma 0.9 0.6 -33% 22Missouri 0.4 0.3 -25% 23Tennessee 0.8 0.2 -75% 24Arkansas 0.1 0 -100% 25Kansas 0.1 0 -100%US Total 998.8 755.5 -24%

Coal production by type

The hardest coal, anthracite, originally used for steel production, heating, and as fuel for ships and railroads, had by 2000 dwindled to an insignificant portion of production. Softer bituminous coal replaced anthracite for steel production. The even softer sub-bituminous and lignite coals overtook bituminous for power generation in the 2000s.

Companies + Companies that produced minimum 5 million short tons in the United States, 2018 # Company M short tons % of US Notes 1 Peabody Energy 155.5 20.6% Chapter 11 bankruptcy 2016, exited 2017 2 Arch Coal 100.3 13.3% Chapter 11 bankruptcy 2016, exited 2016 3 Cloud Peak Energy 49.5 6.6% Chapter 11 bankruptcy October 5, 2019 4 Murray Energy 46.4 6.1% Chapter 11 bankruptcy Oct 2019 5 Alliance Resource 40.3 5.3% Downgraded to BB status April 2021 6 Revelation/Blackjewel 38.5 5.1% Chapter 11 Bankruptcy July 2019 7 NACCO Industries 37.3 4.9% 8 CONSOL Energy 27.6 3.6% Murray Energy took controlling stake in 2013 9 Foresight Energy 23.3 3.1% Filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy March 2020 10 Contura Energy 22.8 3.0% 11 Kiewit 18.5 2.4% 12 Westmoreland Coal 14.8 2.0% Chapter 11 bankruptcy 2018, exited March 15, 2019 13 Vistra Energy 14.0 1.8% 14 Blackhawk Mining 13.3 1.8% Chapter 11 Bankruptcy July 19, 2019 15 Wolverine Fuels 9.1 1.2% 16 Coronado Coal 8.5 1.1% 17 Warrior Met 7.7 1.0% 18 Hallador Energy 7.6 1.0% 19 Global Mining 7.6 1.0% 20 Prairie State 6.3 0.8% 21 Western Fuels6.30.8% 22 White Stallion5.60.7% Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, December 2, 2020;

all 260 employees terminated, 24 to be rehired. 23 J Clifford Forrest5.20.7%

In 2018, the production owned by the top ten companies was 71.6% of total US coal production.

In 2018, the production owned by the top 23 companies was 87.9% of the total US coal production.

Coal mining employment

At the end of July 2022, the coal industry employed approximately 41,100 miners.Total employment: coal mining, Federal Reserve Board of St. Louis. Retrieved July 6, 2025.

US employment in coal mining peaked in 1923, when there were 863,000 coal miners. Since then, mechanization has greatly improved productivity in coal mining, so that employment has declined at the same time coal production increased. The average number of coal mining employees declined to 41,600 in 2020. This was below the previous low of 70,000 in 2003, and the lowest number of US coal miners in at least 125 years.Historical Statistics of the United States, US Department of Commerce, 1960, p.358-359.

Because of the sharp declines in the U.S. coal industry, the Harvard Business Review discussed retraining coal workers for solar photovoltaic employment because of the rapid rise in U.S. solar jobs. A recent study indicated that this was technically possible and would account for only 5% of the industrial revenue from a single year to provide coal workers with job security in the energy industry as whole.

Exports

The U.S. is a net exporter of coal. US net coal exports increased ninefold from 2006 to 2012, peaked at 117 million short tons in 2012, and were 97 million short tons in 2017. In 2015, 60% of net US exports went to Europe, 27% to Asia. The largest individual country export markets were the Netherlands (12.9 million short tons), India (6.4 million short tons), Brazil (6.3 million short tons), and South Korea (6.1 million short tons). Coal exports to China, formerly one of the major markets, declined from 8.3 million short tons in 2013, down to 0.2 million tons in 2015.Quarterly coal exports, US Energy Information Administration. Retrieved Apr. 2016.Coal prices and production decline in 2015, US Energy Information Administration. Retrieved Apr. 2016.

In 2012, six coal export terminals were in the planning stages in the Pacific Northwest. They were scheduled to be supplied by strip mines in the Powder River Basin. The export markets were South Korea, Japan, China, and other Asian nations. Like the Keystone Pipeline the building of the terminals raised environmental concerns with respect to global warming. As of February 2016, four proposals for coal terminals had been withdrawn, leaving two still applied for. The withdrawals were ascribed to loss of demand and consequent lower coal prices."What coal's decline means for Northwest export markets," Oregon Public Broadcasting, February 17, 2016.

Usage

In 2013, 92.8 percent of US internal coal consumption was for electricity generation. Other uses were industrial (4.7 percent), coke manufacture (2.3 percent), and commercial and institutional (0.2 percent).US Energy Information Administration: Net generation by energy source. Retrieved January 24, 2009. In 2016, the EIA calculated that coal would provide 30% of electricity generation nationwide, with natural gas providing 34%, nuclear 19%, and renewables 15%.

Both the tonnage of coal used for electricity (1047 million short tons) and the amount of US electricity generated from coal (2020 TWh) peaked in 2007. By 2015, electrical generation from coal had declined to 1360 TWh and 966 TWh in 2019, as coal's share of total electrical generation in the US fell from 48.5 percent in 2007, to 33.1 percent in 2015, to 23 percent in 2019, and 19% in 2020. Most of the decrease in coal electricity was offset by an increase in generation from natural gas-fired power plants.Coal: Consumption for electricity generation, US Energy Information Administration, April 16, 2016.Net generation by energy source, US Energy Information Administration, April 4, 2016.

In 2006, there were 1493 coal-powered generating units at electrical utilities across the US, with total nominal capacity of 335.8 GW (compared to 1024 units at nominal capacity of 278 GW in 2000). Actual power generated from coal in 2006 was 227.1 GW (), the highest in the world and still slightly ahead of China () at that time. In 2000, US production of electricity from coal was 224.3 GW (). In 2006, the US consumed or 92.3% of coal mined for electricity generation.