The U.S. Without Coal? Good Luck.
9 hours ago Guest Blogger
By Frank ClementeFred Palmer
This article was originally published in Coal Zoom and is re-published here with permission.
First, let’s establish the stark reality of coal’s contribution to American Society during crises over the last decade:
2014 Polar Vortex brought extreme cold across the U.S. resulting in record winter peak electric demands. Coal provided the majority of electricity but, even more importantly, coal power increased 92% YOY to meet the load. Oil increased 12%, Wind 9% and Nuclear 7%. Natural gas (NG) generation decreased 6% YOY and Hydro declined 15%. Solar was irrelevant. NG was diverted to space heating needs and prices in the Northeast exceeded $100/ MMBtu. New England Utilities resorted to burning jet fuel.
2019 “Cold Event” a severe cold wave caused by an Arctic Polar Vortex hit the East and Midwest leading to fatalities. In the PJM region (65 million people) coal power led all fuels at 37% of electricity. All renewables combined contributed only 7% of electricity. In the MISO region (45 million people), coal provided 50 % of electricity and operated at 73 % of installed capacity.
2021: Winter Storm Uri impacted much of the U.S. Extreme cold forced the MISO grid, which stretches across 15 states and Manitoba, to make emergency load reduction. Coal-based generation surged 36% and met almost 50% of demand. Solar power was virtually non-existent, and MISO reported that “output from wind generation was low throughout the duration of the event.” NG prices increased from less than $3 per MMBTU to as much as $700.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/07/14/the-u-s-without-coal-good-luck/
