Demand for coal is expected to decline in 2009

The Department of Energy says use of electricity in the United States "flattened this year and will likely decline slightly in 2009," reports Dustin Bleizeffer of the Casper Star-Tribune, the largest paper in the nation's largest coal producer, Wyoming. "Combined with a projected decline in U.S. coal exports and demand for coking, U.S. coal production is expected to drop 2.6 percent in 2009."

An increase in coal exports this year led to a 2.8 percent increase in U.S. coal production, but the expected declines in both exports and electrical consumption is expected to negate those gains next year. Industry experts expect Western coal production should remain steady while other coal producing regions are forced to slow production. (Read more)