Coal mining in the United States

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Coal mining is an industry in transition in the United States. Production in 2023 was down about 50% from the peak production of 1,171.8 million short tons (1,063 million metric tons) in 2008. Employment of 45,000 coal miners is down from a peak of 883,000 in 1923. Electricity generation is the largest use of coal, being used to produce 50% of electric power in 2005 and 15% in 2024. The U.S. is a net exporter of coal. U.S. coal exports, for which Europe is the largest customer, peaked in 2012. In 2022, the U.S. exported 14 percent of mined coal. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), in 2015, Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, and Pennsylvania produced about 639 million short tons (580 million metric tons), representing 71% of total coal production in the United States. In 2015, four publicly traded U.S. coal companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, including Patriot Coal Corporation, Walter Energy, and the fourth-largest Alpha Natural Resources...

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