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Coal power in the United States

Coal power accounts for about half of the electricity production in the United States. Utilities buy more than 90 percent of the coal mined in the United States .

In 2006, there were 1493 coal-powered units at the electrical utilities across the US, with the total nominal capacity of 335.8 GW (compared to 1024 units at nominal 278 GW in 2000). The actual average generated power from coal in 2006 was 227.1 GW (1.991 trillion kilowatt-hours per year), the highest in the world and still slightly ahead of China (1.95 trillion kilowatt-hours per year) at that time. Back in 2000, the US average production of electricity from coal was 224.3 GW (1.966 trillion kilowatt-hours per year). In 2006, the U.S. consumed or 92.3% of coal for electricity generation.

Recent trends, comparisons, and forecasts

Average share of electricity generated from coal in the US has dropped slightly, from 52.8% in 1997 to 49.0% in 2006. However, due to growth of the total demand for electricity, the net production of coal-generated electricity increased over the same period from 1.845 to 1.991 trillion kilowatt-hours per year in absolute terms.

The coal plants are mostly base-load plants and account for about 32% of the peak electricity production in the summer, when the electricity demand is the highest and the auxiliary (mostly non-coal) plants are added to the grid.

The average share of electricity generated from coal power was projected to increase again with a coal plant building boom. As of 2007, 154 new coal-fired plants are on the drawing board in 42 states. The Energy Department forecasted that coal's share will rise to 57 percent by 2030, fueled in part by rising natural gas prices , but in 2008 it has said that the conversion from coal to biomass power is a growing trend in the United States .

Canceled and slowed proposals

On October 19, 2007, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment was the first government agency to reject a permit for a new coal-fired plant on the basis of carbon dioxide emissions which had been planned by the Sunflower Electric Power Corporation.
Southwestern Power Group's Bowie Power Station proposed an IGCC plant that was scrapped in favor of a natural gas plant. Regulatory uncertainty was cited as one of the reasons.
A Florida Power & Light's Glades Power Plant proposed plant of 1,960 MW was rejected by the Florida Public Service Commission. Uncertainty over possible future carbon taxes was cited as one of the reasons.
An air permit for a plant in Kentucky was rejected in August 2007 in a circuit court on the basis that the air pollution control analysis was inadequate.
Cancellation of 8 (out of promised 11) proposed coal plants of former TXU Corporation in Texas by the current owners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and TPG, was finalized on October 15, 2007.

Environmental impacts

In the United States, three coal-fired power plants reported the largest toxic air releases in 2001 :

CP&L Roxboro Steam Electric Plant in Semora, North Carolina. The four-unit, 2,462 megawatt facility one of the largest power plants in the United States.
Reliant Energy's Keystone Power Plant in Shelocta, Pennsylvania.
Georgia Power Bowen Steam Electric Generating Plant in Cartersville, Georgia.

Acid rain

Byproducts of coal plants have been linked to acid rain.

Sulfur dioxide emissions

Below is a comprehensive list of the 86 dirtiest large (above 100 MWe) U.S. coal-fired power plants in 2006, in terms of their SO₂ emission rates:

Rank	Plant name	State	Year(s) built	Parent company	Capacity (MWe)	Total SO₂ emissions (tons)	SO₂ rate (lb/MWh)
1	R. Gallagher	IN	1958-61	Duke Energy	600	50,819	40.38
2	Muskingum River	OH	1953-58, 1968	American Electric Power	1529	122,984	32.78
3	Warrick	IN	1960-70	Alcoa	755	92,919	32.69
4	Hatfield's Ferry	PA	1969-71	Allegheny Energy	1728	135,082	28.91
5	Portland	PA	1958-62	Reliant Energy	427	30,685	28.30
6	Wabash River	IN	1953-56, 1968, 1995	Duke Energy	1165	58,793	27.66
7	Shawville	PA	1954-60	Reliant Energy	626	47,287	26.96
8	Cayuga	IN	1970-72	Duke Energy	1062	86,174	26.68
9	Morgantown	MD	1970-71	Mirant	1252	98,073	26.08
10	Keystone	PA	1967-68	Reliant Energy	1872	164,354	25.83
11	Avon Lake	OH	1949, 1970	Reliant Energy	766	43,479	24.50
12	Harding Street	IN	1958-61, 1973	AES	698	46,346	24.00
13	Jefferies	SC	1970	Santee Cooper	346	26,299	23.92
14	E. W. Brown	KY	1957-63, 1971	E.ON	739	45,191	23.75
15	Montour	PA	1972-73	PPL	1624	129,357	23.70
16	Kammer	WV	1958-59	American Electric Power	713	119,369	23.58
17	Cheswick	PA	1970	Reliant Energy	637	32,373	23.01
18	E. C. Gaston	AL	1960-62, 1974	Southern Company	2013	130,494	22.91
19	Dickerson	MD	1959-62	Mirant	588	35,954	22.82
20	Johnsonville	TN	1951-59	Tennessee Valley Authority	1485	86,793	22.67
21	Fort Martin	WV	1967-68	Allegheny Energy	1152	87,565	21.79
22	Yates	GA	1950-58, 1974	Southern Company	1487	75,476	21.63
23	Big Brown	TX	1971-72	Luminant	1187	96,221	21.59
24	Chalk Point	MD	1964-65	Mirant	728	49,591	21.14
25	Merrimack	NH	1960-68	Northeast Utilities	459	32,726	20.70
26	Leland Olds	ND	1966, 1975	Basin Electric Power Cooperative	656	40,027	20.50
27	Brunner Island	PA	1961-69	PPL	1559	93,545	20.49
28	Walter C. Beckjord	OH	1952-62, 1969	Duke Energy	1221	62,480	20.32
29	Hammond	GA	1954-55, 1970	Southern Company	953	40,579	20.25
30	Conesville	OH	1962, 1973-78	American Electric Power	1891	90,540	20.00
31	Yorktown	VA	1957-59	Dominion	375	21,685	19.86
32	Gorgas	AL	1951-58, 1972	Southern Company	1417	81,268	19.53
33	Greene County	AL	1965-66	Southern Company	568	37,863	18.99
34	Eastlake	OH	1953-56, 1972	FirstEnergy	1257	82,705	18.87
35	Harllee Branch	GA	1965-69	Southern Company	1746	95,990	18.73
36	Miami Fort	OH	1949, 1960, 1975-78	Duke Energy	1378	62,028	18.63
37	Canadys Steam	SC	1962-67	SCANA	490	22,984	18.58
38	Kyger Creek	OH	1955	American Electric Power and FirstEnergy	1086	67,157	18.30
39	Bowen	GA	1971-75	Southern Company	3499	206,442	18.24
40	Homer City	PA	1969, 1977	Exelon	2012	106,772	17.42
41	Philip Sporn	WV	1950-52, 1960	American Electric Power	1106	39,741	15.69
42	Chesterfield	VA	1952-1969	Dominion	1353	64,863	15.55
43	Wateree	SC	1970-71	SCANA	772	32,797	15.30
44	Jack McDonough	GA	1963-64	Southern Company	598	28,835	15.29
45	E. D. Edwards	IL	1960, 1968-72	Ameren	780	50,126	15.28
46	Wansley	GA	1976-78	Southern Company	1904	96,200	15.25
47	Herbert A. Wagner	MD	1959, 1966	Constellation Energy	495	19,646	15.13
48	Cardinal	OH	1967, 1977	American Electric Power	1880	86,880	15.12
49	Clifty Creek	IN	1955-56	American Electric Power and FirstEnergy	1303	65,372	14.32
50	Cliffside	NC	1940-48, 1972	Duke Energy	781	28,878	14.30
51	G. G. Allen	NC	1957-61	Duke Energy	1155	45,395	14.13
52	J. M. Stuart	OH	1970-74	DPL	2441	103,649	14.11
53	L. V. Sutton	NC	1954-55, 1972	Progress Energy	672	19,159	13.85
54	Gibson	IN	1975-82	Duke Energy	3340	155,057	13.80
55	Sioux	MO	1967-68	Ameren	1100	44,148	13.80
56	Mitchell	WV	1971	American Electric Power	1633	53,152	13.67
57	Trenton Channel	MI	1949-50, 1968	DTE Energy	776	29,066	13.52
58	Clinch River	VA	1958-61	American Electric Power	713	27,134	13.17
59	Marshall	NC	1965-70	Duke Energy	1996	85,050	13.17
60	Hudson	NJ	1968	PSE&G	660	19,709	13.04
61	Big Sandy	KY	1963-69	American Electric Power	1097	46,476	12.96
62	Roxboro	NC	1966-73, 1980	Progress Energy	2558	92,259	12.55
63	Williams	SC	1973	SCANA	633	28,147	12.53
64	Belews Creek	NC	1974-75	Duke Energy	2160	95,290	12.30
65	Sandow 4	TX	1981	Luminant	591	23,747	12.25
66	Indian River	DE	1957-59, 1970, 1980	NRG Energy	782	20,705	12.24
67	Tanners Creek	IN	1951-54, 1964	American Electric Power	1100	35,494	12.08
68	John Sevier	TN	1955-57	Tennessee Valley Authority	800	30,126	11.95
69	Jack Watson	MS	1968, 1973	Southern Company	750	29,113	11.94
70	Bull Run	TN	1967	Tennessee Valley Authority	950	27,987	11.92
71	John E. Amos	WV	1971-73	American Electric Power	2933	117,299	11.68
72	Paradise	KY	1963, 1970	Tennessee Valley Authority	2558	83,926	11.55
73	Monroe	MI	1970-74	DTE Energy	3280	103,570	11.52
74	St. Clair	MI	1953-54, 1961, 1969	DTE Energy	1547	42,374	11.39
75	Crist	FL	1959-61, 1970-73	Southern Company	1135	35,614	11.34
76	Genoa	WI	1969	Dairyland Power Cooperative	346	11,420	11.26
77	Michigan City	IN	1974	NiSource	540	15,993	11.21
78	Mayo	NC	1983	Progress Energy	736	24,499	11.20
79	W. H. Sammis	OH	1959-62, 1967-71	FirstEnergy	2456	86,392	11.08
80	Milton R. Young	ND	1970, 1977	Minnkota Power Cooperative	734	26,879	11.06
81	Killen	OH	1982	DPL	666	22,825	10.97
82	Kingston	TN	1954-55	Tennessee Valley Authority	1700	55,473	10.69
83	Winyah	SC	1975-81	Santee Cooper	1260	42,709	10.68
84	Colbert	AL	1955, 1965	Tennessee Valley Authority	1350	39,942	10.41
85	Monticello	TX	1974-78	Luminant	1980	77,538	10.37
86	H. L. Spurlock	KY	1977-81, 2005	East Kentucky Power Cooperative	1279	38,877	10.22

While these 86 plants have a capacity of 107.1 GW, or 9.9% of total U.S. electric capacity, they emitted 5,389,592 tons of SO₂ in 2006 – which represents 28.6% of U.S. SO₂ emissions from all sources.

Carbon footprint: CO₂ emissions

Emissions from electricity generation account for the largest share of U.S. greenhouse gases, 38.9% of U.S. production of carbon dioxide in 2006 (with transportation emissions close behind, at 31%). Although coal power only accounted for 49% of the U.S. electricity production in 2006, it was responsible for 83% of CO₂ emissions caused by electricity generation that year, or 1,970 Tg of CO₂ emissions. Further 130 Tg of CO₂ were released by other industrial coal-burning applications.

Mercury pollution

U.S. coal-fired electricity-generating power plants owned by utilities emitted an estimated 48 tons of mercury in 1999, the largest source of man-made mercury pollution in the U.S. In 1995-96, this accounted for 32.6% of all mercury emitted into the air by human activity in the U.S. In addition, 13.1% was emitted by coal-fired industrial and mixed-use commercial boilers, and 0.3% by coal-fired residential boilers, bringing the total U.S. mercury pollution due to coal combustion to 46% of the U.S. man-made mercury sources. In contrast, China's coal-fired power plants emitted an estimated 200 ± 90 tons of mercury in 1999, which was about 38% of Chinese human-generated mercury emissions (45% being emitted from non-ferrous metals smelting).

Public debate

Advocates

In 2007 an advertising campaign was launched to improve public opinion on coal power titled America's Power. This was done by Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, a pro-coal organization started in 2000.

Opposition

In the face of increasing electricity demand through the 2000s, the US has seen a "Growing Trend Against Coal-Fired Power Plants". In 2006 through 2007 there was first a bullish market attitude towards coal with the expectation of a new wave of plants, but political barriers and pollution concerns escalated potentially, which is likely to damage plans for new generation and put pressure on older plants. In 2007, 59 proposed coal plants were cancelled, abandoned, or placed on hold by sponsors as a result of financing obstacles, regulatory decisions, judicial rulings, and new global warming legislation.

The Stop Coal campaign has called for a moratorium on the construction of any new coal plants and for the phase out of all existing plants, citing concern for global warming. Others have called for a carbon tax and a requirement of carbon sequestration for all coal power plants.