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The pandemic is “accelerating coal’s demise.” Across PJM Interconnect, the grid operator in 13 states, coal accounts now for only 14 percent of generation, down from 20 percent in February.

“Just about everything that can go wrong has gone wrong,” says an analyst who asserts that the industry is in worse straits than others because it was fundamentally unsound already.

In Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and elsewhere across the country, massive utility-scale clean-energy projects are proceeding with what will likely prove to be only short-term delays from the coronavirus crisis.

“Thousands of households in the area have no running water, making them especially vulnerable to the spread of the new coronavirus,” write organizers of an urgent push for relief supplies.

“It creates thousands of jobs, supports economic development, boosts tax receipts, attracts investment in our state, and puts extra money in farmers’ pockets,” notes Sen. Chuck Grassley, a leading Republican.

Bucking regressive opposition, Lake County takes “an important step in a mounting initiative to unlock the potential of solar power in a state that has no renewable energy purchasing mandate.”

Lockdowns have driven down demand for electricity, some mining companies have staggered or ceased production altogether, and analysts don’t think the government is inclined to bail out a long-failing industry.

Photovoltaic solar is commonly deployed now for farm operations, and landowners in North Carolina are getting $500-$1,400 per acre for utility-scale installations, compared to $27-$102 for conventional agricultural land leases.

Longview’s filing is of special note because the West Virginia plant was a model of efficiency. Not even brand-name, big-money investors like Bain Capital and KKR could make it work.

Enactment of new electricity-generation standards will close most coal plants in the state by 2025 and rejigger the economy to create “thousands of clean energy jobs,” one state senator said.