U.S. Electricity Markets Increasingly Favor Alternatives to Coal

This fact sheet from the World Resources Institute analyzes the decline of coal in the U.S. electric power system, arguing that market forces rather than environmental regulations are the primary drivers of coal plant retirements.

• Coal's role in U.S. electricity generation reached historic lows in 2011. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), coal use dropped to its lowest level in over a decade in 2011, with its share of total generation falling below 40% during the final two months of that year, the lowest since 1978.
• Market forces, rather than EPA regulations, are the primary drivers of coal plant retirements. While companies like FirstEnergy Corp. have attributed plant closures to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) and other environmental rules, the document asserts that these decisions are heavily influenced by rising coal prices, lower natural gas prices, increased cost-competitiveness of renewables, and declining growth in electricity demand.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). U.S. Electricity Markets Increasingly Favor Alternatives to Coal. https://www.wri.org/research/fact-sheet-us-electricity-markets-increasingly-favor-alternatives-coal

Chicago

World Resources Institute. U.S. Electricity Markets Increasingly Favor Alternatives to Coal. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/fact-sheet-us-electricity-markets-increasingly-favor-alternatives-coal.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=U.S. Electricity Markets Increasingly Favor Alternatives to Coal |url=https://www.wri.org/research/fact-sheet-us-electricity-markets-increasingly-favor-alternatives-coal |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendelectricity, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{U.S. Electricity Markets Increasingly Favor Alternatives to Coal}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/fact-sheet-us-electricity-markets-increasingly-favor-alternatives-coal}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }