The great transformation of US power
The US power sector faces unprecedented change with the rise of renewables and gas
It's been a bad year for coal. Production is expected to fall nearly 20% in 2016-the biggest drop in a single year since the government started keeping count in 1949. Demand is on pace to shrink by 10% as cheap natural gas supplants coal as the dominant fuel for power providers. Industry stalwarts Peabody Energy, Patriot Coal, Alpha Natural Resources and Arch Resources have been pushed into bankruptcy. Coal's terrible year means 2016 will likely be remembered as a turning point in the US power sector. Coal's reign is giving way to a combination of natural gas and increasingly competitive wind and solar. In 2007, the US burned coal to generate half of its electricity, but that dominance has e
Also in this section
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
14 January 2026
Chavez’s socialist reforms boosted state control but pushed knowledge and capital out of the sector, opening the way for the US shale revolution
