Coal Could Produce 50,000 Jobs: A Green Challenge
The coal industry employed 185,000 people in 1987. That fell to 60,000 last year. Because the Trump Administration has helped Big Coal by opening up 13 million acres of federal land for mining, the number of workers could rise again. For the most part, the Trump decision was made because electricity prices are rising and demand in AI data centers is increasing.
Electricity usage in the US was flat for two decades until two years ago. That made it easy to phase out coal as renewables, particularly solar and wind, rose. The EIA reports that in 2023, coal accounted for 16% of US electricity, wind for 10%, and solar for 4%. Electricity from solar and wind is rising, while coal is falling quickly.
The Electricity Race
It is too early to tell how many coal plants will need to be reopened. There were 148 coal plants in the US as of 2023. That was down from 518 in 2013. The employment rate and the number of plants have dropped by the same amount.
As energy use increases, coal and renewables are in a race. There are two parts to this. One is how fast energy can be brought online. The other is how fast electricity demand rises. If coal wins the race, many of the lost jobs will return
Of course, the environmental effects of coal vs renewables are huge. But that may not matter.
More from Electricity Wars
- Data Centers In The Middle Of Nowhere
- AI And AC Drive Up Electricity prices By 25%
- Air Conditioning Is Future Of Electricity
- Electricity Gets Ugly
