Full Title: U.S. Coal: More Market Erosion is on the Way
Author(s): David Schlissel, Tom Sanzillo, and Seth Feaster
Publisher(s): Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis
Publication Date: February 1, 2018
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
The purpose of this review and outlook is to assess the impact that market forces and policy changes have had, and are likely to continue to have, on the financial viability of coal-fired electricity generation across the U.S.—and on the viability of the coal industry as a whole.
Our analysis focuses on changes reflected in actual market-, and company- and plant-reported results, rather than on models built around flawed, hypothetical assumptions about future circumstances and developments. This report considers the performance of specific individual mines and coal–fired generators and the finances of plant and mine owners.
This report is our second on the topic in two years. The first, published in January 2017, took a bare-bones approach to quantifying trends in coal markets—focusing on consumption, production, prices, employment and the underlying market forces driving those trends. This year’s outlook takes a deeper look at the energy-generation side of the equation, recognizing that demand is the key to the future of coal producers.