re: #186 Backwoods_Sleuth

The biggest change over the last couple of decades is that demand for coal has dropped tremendously. The market just isn’t there anymore. Market is usually the first or second reason given for shuttering mines; regulation is way down on the list. Even the coal companies admit that.

The demand for coal has dropped as a result of natural gas prices dropping even faster - and natural gas plants are more cost effective to run as well and can operate on a smaller footprint as a result of not requiring space to bunker the coal. It’s also quicker for natural gas plants to fire up to start generating power to match demand than coal plants. So, building new smaller distributed gas powered plants closer to where the demand is located makes more sense than building new coal powered facilities, because of the distribution costs as well (need for rail access, larger land area required to store coal, etc.)