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“West Virginia's leading utility, Appalachian Power, has closed three coal-fired plants in recent years and converted two others to natural gas. Other factors in the declining use of coal are the increasing deployment of solar- and wind-powered generation facilities.”

The president of an upstate New York teachers’ association explains how the town of Tonawanda united educational interests, government leaders, labor, and other activists “to close the revenue gap” after NRG closed the Huntley Power Generating Station.

Wyoming is among the states developing renewable energy for export, one example of many in which “state leadership and energy markets are already headed toward renewables and away from fossil fuels, a trend federal policy changes won't deter.”

Coal-plant closures in Texas are the latest in a wave of such shutdowns since Donald Trump took office, and coal-mining jobs continue to disappear as electricity markets embrace other forms of power generation.

Free markets will continue to drive momentum toward cleaner electricity production in the U.S.. Coal is losing out steadily to renewable energy, which is becoming cheaper, and advance in technology do not favor coal.

Two imminent power-plant closings in Texas spell difficulties for a coal mine in Wyoming that depends on those plants for more than its demand. The closures of the Monticello and Big Brown plants by utility company Luminant will add to an expected shutdown in 2018 nationally of more than 13,600 megawatts of coal-fired power, compared with 7,600 in 2017.

Cities, states, businesses, and utilities themselves are continuing their push for cleaner energy production, regardless of an EPA campaign to resuscitate coal. Among them: The Tennessee Valley Authority and Florida Power & Light.

At a Thursday hearing in which House members interrogated Energy Secretary Rick Perry on a regulatory proposal to prop up coal production, skeptics portrayed the plan as an affront to free markets. “At the end of the day, killing off competitive electricity markets just to save generation assets that are no longer economical will lead to higher prices for consumers,” said one congressman.

U.S. coal producers have had a relatively strong year—next to the downturn it endured in 2016. But data from the U.S. energy administration indicates a marked recent slowing in production. In two of the past three, output has lagged comparable periods in 2017.