Can U.S. Coal-Fired Power Plants Survive the Coronavirus Pandemic?

Economics have increasingly not favored coal-fired power plants in the United States in the last decade. The rise of low-cost renewables and natural gas, the reality of an aging coal fleet, and the passage of ambitious state policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions have combined to create a difficult operating environment for the nation's dirtiest power source.

The coronavirus pandemic is going to make a bleak situation much, much worse.

In early April, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) issued its first monthly energy outlook since stay-at-home orders started in the United States. The key takeaway: Coal could produce the lowest amount of electricity since 1960. 

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Source Fool.com