Domestic coal consumption is at the lowest level since 1979, but increased exports have helped the industry

U.S. Energy Information Administration chart; click on the image to enlarge it.

"Americans are consuming less coal in 2018 than at any time since Jimmy Carter’s presidency, a federal report said Tuesday, as cheap natural gas and other rival sources of energy frustrate the Trump administration’s pledges to revive the U.S. coal industry," Ellen Knickmeyer and Matthew Daly report for The Associated Press. "A report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected Tuesday that 2018 would see the lowest U.S. coal consumption since 1979, as well as the second-greatest number on record of coal-fired power plants shutting down." But despite the continuing drop in domestic use, 2018 has been a good year for the industry overall because of increasing exports.

American coal consumption in 2018 is expected to fall 4 percent from 2017, a 44 percent drop from 2007 levels mainly driven by declines in use by electric utilities, the report says. Utilities use the lion's share of coal in the U.S., but are increasingly burning natural gas and using renewable energy sources. More stringent pollution laws also made it more profitable for some older coal-powered plants to close rather than upgrade their equipment to trap harmful coal emissions, AP reports.

"Coal’s continuing slump comes despite Trump policy efforts to prop up the industry. That includes scrapping Obama’s signature Clean Power Plan that would have spurred electrical suppliers to turn away from coal-fired power plants in favor of cleaner forms of energy such as natural gas," AP reports. "Ironically, the new tax law approved by the Republican-controlled Congress has encouraged coal plants to close, as utilities use a provision that allows them to accelerate depreciation costs for closing plants," according to Joe Pizarchik, who directed the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement under President Obama.