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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Coal use by U.S. electric generators fell about 15% in 2019 to approximately 538 million short tons, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). A further decline is expected in 2020 as asset owners continue with plans to close generators.
Click on the image at right to see a chart of U.S. coal use by electric generators since 2000.
So far this year, owners of several power stations across the U.S. West, including the Colstrip Power Station, Escalante Generating Station and Cholla Power Station, have announced plans to close generating capacity at those facilities.
The largest coal-fired power station west of the Mississippi, Navajo Generating Station, closed last year. That three-unit plant had a total generating capacity of 2,250 megawatts (MW). For more on Western coal-fired power plant closures, see May 17, 2019, article - Western Coal Power Round-Up: Close, Sell or Protect.
Coal use by power generators has fallen nearly 50% from its recent highs. As recently as 2003 to 2008, U.S. generators burned more than 1 billion short tons per year, according to the most recent issue of the EIA's Electric Power Monthly. A different EIA publication, Short-Term Energy Outlook, predicts coal use will continue to trend downward throughout 2020 and 2021.
Britt Burt, Industrial Info's vice president of research for the global Power Industry, noted asset owners closed about 12,249 MW of coal-fired power plants in 2018, significantly more than in any single year since 2013: "That number rose to about 15,417 MW in 2019, and we expect that number will fall to about 8,025 MW in 2020."
PacifiCorp (Portland, Oregon), a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) (Omaha, Nebraska), earlier this year determined closing Unit 4 at Arizona's Cholla station would be more cost-effective than converting it to burn natural gas. A proposal to have Cholla 4, with 414 MW of generating capacity, burn biomass was vetoed by the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) (Phoenix, Arizona), the state's utility regulator. Two other units at Cholla are scheduled to close by 2025.
In early January, Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association (Westminster, Colorado) decided to close its 247-MW Escalante Power Station in New Mexico. Also in January, Talen Energy decided to close units 1 and 2 at the Colstrip Power Station in Montana. Those two units had a combined generating capacity of about 716 MW.
Apart from Escalante, Tri-State also announced earlier this year plans to completely shut all operations by 2030 at the Craig Station in Colorado, a 1,285-MW coal plant that Tri-State operates.
Since 2010, an estimated 49 coal-fired power plants in the West have closed or have established closure dates, according to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times and the Sierra Club. That leaves about 20 plants in the region whose owners haven't committed to fully retiring them by specific dates.
Low-cost natural gas, increasingly competitive renewable generation like wind and solar, and federal and state policies have placed coal-fired generation in an economically challenging position. In the EIA's most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook, released in February, the agency predicted coal's share of the electric fuel market will fall to 21% this year and next, down from 24% in 2019. Gas is expected to generate about 38% of the nation's electricity this year, up from 37% in 2019. Renewables' share of the power fuel mix will rise to 20% in 2020 and 21% in 2021, up from 17% in 2019. Nuclear is expected to continue generating about 20% of the country's electricity.
Separately, an analysis by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (Cleveland, Ohio) showed that during February, renewable generators (utility-scale solar, wind and hydropower) generated more electricity than coal plants. This was the first time this has happened. Using data from the EIA's hourly electric grid monitor, the group found renewables generated 56,981,597 megawatt-hours of electricity during February, while coal produced 54,733,731 MWh.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.
Click on the image at right to see a chart of U.S. coal use by electric generators since 2000.So far this year, owners of several power stations across the U.S. West, including the Colstrip Power Station, Escalante Generating Station and Cholla Power Station, have announced plans to close generating capacity at those facilities.
The largest coal-fired power station west of the Mississippi, Navajo Generating Station, closed last year. That three-unit plant had a total generating capacity of 2,250 megawatts (MW). For more on Western coal-fired power plant closures, see May 17, 2019, article - Western Coal Power Round-Up: Close, Sell or Protect.
Coal use by power generators has fallen nearly 50% from its recent highs. As recently as 2003 to 2008, U.S. generators burned more than 1 billion short tons per year, according to the most recent issue of the EIA's Electric Power Monthly. A different EIA publication, Short-Term Energy Outlook, predicts coal use will continue to trend downward throughout 2020 and 2021.
Britt Burt, Industrial Info's vice president of research for the global Power Industry, noted asset owners closed about 12,249 MW of coal-fired power plants in 2018, significantly more than in any single year since 2013: "That number rose to about 15,417 MW in 2019, and we expect that number will fall to about 8,025 MW in 2020."
PacifiCorp (Portland, Oregon), a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) (Omaha, Nebraska), earlier this year determined closing Unit 4 at Arizona's Cholla station would be more cost-effective than converting it to burn natural gas. A proposal to have Cholla 4, with 414 MW of generating capacity, burn biomass was vetoed by the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) (Phoenix, Arizona), the state's utility regulator. Two other units at Cholla are scheduled to close by 2025.
In early January, Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association (Westminster, Colorado) decided to close its 247-MW Escalante Power Station in New Mexico. Also in January, Talen Energy decided to close units 1 and 2 at the Colstrip Power Station in Montana. Those two units had a combined generating capacity of about 716 MW.
Apart from Escalante, Tri-State also announced earlier this year plans to completely shut all operations by 2030 at the Craig Station in Colorado, a 1,285-MW coal plant that Tri-State operates.
Since 2010, an estimated 49 coal-fired power plants in the West have closed or have established closure dates, according to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times and the Sierra Club. That leaves about 20 plants in the region whose owners haven't committed to fully retiring them by specific dates.
Low-cost natural gas, increasingly competitive renewable generation like wind and solar, and federal and state policies have placed coal-fired generation in an economically challenging position. In the EIA's most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook, released in February, the agency predicted coal's share of the electric fuel market will fall to 21% this year and next, down from 24% in 2019. Gas is expected to generate about 38% of the nation's electricity this year, up from 37% in 2019. Renewables' share of the power fuel mix will rise to 20% in 2020 and 21% in 2021, up from 17% in 2019. Nuclear is expected to continue generating about 20% of the country's electricity.
Separately, an analysis by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (Cleveland, Ohio) showed that during February, renewable generators (utility-scale solar, wind and hydropower) generated more electricity than coal plants. This was the first time this has happened. Using data from the EIA's hourly electric grid monitor, the group found renewables generated 56,981,597 megawatt-hours of electricity during February, while coal produced 54,733,731 MWh.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.
