According to a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the use of coal to generate baseload capacity continues to drop. In 2001, according to the EIA, coal was the largest source of electricity generation in 32 states. “The United States has shifted away from coal-fired generation since it peaked in 2007 and toward natural gas and renewables,” said the EIA. In 2021, coal was used to generate electricity more than any other energy source in only 15 states.

Conversely. in 2001, natural gas was the largest source of in-state electricity generation in seven states. By 2021, that number had grown to 23 states, driven by widespread retirement of coal-fired power plants and new construction of natural gas-fired power plants. “Wind and solar capacity were also growing during that time,” said the EIA. “Coal-fired plants have not been competitive economically with relatively lower-cost natural gas and renewables.”

According to the EIA, many of the country’s coal plants were built in the 1970s and 1980s, and, as these coal plants aged and faced price pressure from natural gas and renewables and from emissions regulations, many have been closed. The EIA noted that Ohio and Pennsylvania had the largest declines in coal-fired capacity over the past 20 years. The largest source of electricity in both states shifted from coal to natural gas over that period.

As coal plants retired, significant natural gas-fired and renewable capacity, including wind and solar, was added. Technological advancements, namely horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracking, led to a rise in U.S. natural gas production, and low natural gas prices helped make natural gas-fired power plants an attractive alternative to coal. According to the EIA, Texas, Florida, California, Pennsylvania, and Ohio added the most natural gas-fired capacity between 2001 and 2021, and, in 2021, natural gas accounted for the largest share of in-state generation in all five states.

In three states (Iowa, Kansas, and South Dakota), where coal-fired plants generated the most electricity in 2001, the largest shares of electricity generation shifted to wind turbines by 2021. “All three states are located in the blustery Great Plains, where the country’s most abundant onshore wind resources are located,” said the EIA report.
Although many states have shifted away from coal as the largest source of electricity over the past 20 years, in 2021 coal still accounted for more than 70 percent of in-state generation in four states: West Virginia (91%), Missouri (75%), Wyoming (74%), and Kentucky (71%). And, according to the EIA, three of these four states (West Virginia, Wyoming, and Kentucky) are among the nation’s largest coal producers.

Although many states have shifted away from coal as the largest source of electricity over the past 20 years, in 2021 coal still accounted for more than 70 percent of in-state generation in four states: West Virginia (91%), Missouri (75%), Wyoming (74%), and Kentucky (71%). And, according to the EIA, three of these four states (West Virginia, Wyoming, and Kentucky) are among the nation’s largest coal producers