Workers transport and organise mounds of coal on a hilltop near an Arch Coal facility in Beckley, West Virginia, U.S., April 11, 2025.
As of late June, the EIA estimated that U.S. power plants had approximately 124 million short tons of coal stored on-site. This amount is adequate to sustain operations for about 93 days, based on a daily consumption rate of 1.3 million short tons. The agency anticipates that the days of burn—representing the duration a power plant can operate with its existing coal reserves—will range between 90 and 120 days through the end of 2026. This reflects a stockpile level roughly equivalent to an additional month’s supply compared to the reserves held between 2019 and 2022.
The EIA also provided insights into coal’s role in electricity generation: “In our short-term forecast, we expect coal’s share of U.S. electricity generation to increase from 16% in 2024 to 17% in 2025 and then decrease to 15% in 2026,” the agency stated. These projections indicate a slight uptick in coal usage next year, followed by a modest decline.
