Latest News

“Momentum persists even in the age of Covid-19 around the transition from coal,” write two researchers who show how the trend grew at a historical pace in February and March.

“These coal miners have a work ethic like you cannot believe,” said one executive. “They are used to shift work, they're OK on travel, it all seems to work out.”

Drawing on skilled local workforces and proximity to existing infrastructure, industrial real estate companies—often in partnership with government—are putting redevelopment plans in motion at sites in several states.

“Coal’s importance will continue to decline, as market erosion gains momentum across the industry,” concludes a study that sees coal accounting for less than 10% of power needs by 2025.

As the ongoing and “inevitable” decline of coal proceeds, the former lieutenant governor of North Dakota calls for foresight and planning, citing post-coal initiatives in Colorado, New Mexico, and Washington.

Once a stalwart of the industry, the coal-mining company, which has operations in Appalachia and the Illinois and Uintah basins, has cancelled its bankruptcy auction for lack of qualified bids.

Following an “elegant, simple, and fair” proposal by tribal leaders, utilities in the Grand Canyon State would reinvest seriously in coalfield communities otherwise left behind as mines and plants close.

Vestas Windmills employees 900 people at its local turbine factory, and Xcel Energy is installing a 240-megawatt solar farm, the biggest in the state, to power a 139-year-old steel mill.

Critics of the pitch for a coal-company tax cut, royalty relief, and less reclamation-recovery funding equated it to “a corporate giveaway” that would hurt state governments and local communities alike.

“We’re seeing a surge in interest around redevelopment because there is a recognition that they are assets of value,” one analyst said. “There’s a return on investment waiting to happen.”