Kentucky Coal Association

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Kentucky Coal Association

The task of the Kentucky Coal Association is to provide effective leadership for the coal industry.

08/24/2026

Demand on the PJM grid, the largest in the country, reached 168,158 megawatts on a July afternoon. Nearly 19,000 megawatts of generating capacity was offline for repairs that day. Coal generation rose to 24 gigawatts from 14 the week before, an increase of 69%.

08/21/2026

The United States recorded the largest increase in coal consumption of any country in 2025, according to the Energy Institute's Statistical Review of World Energy. U.S. consumption rose 10% year over year, reversing two consecutive years of double-digit decline, as higher natural gas prices moved utilities back toward coal generation. Five countries accounted for 80% of global consumption growth.

08/19/2026

A coal mine is about to become a critical-minerals plant. The University of North Dakota has secured a Department of Energy contract for a commercial-scale demonstration at the Falkirk mine, one of five projects selected under the department's $75 million critical-materials initiative. The process pulls a concentrate of 17 critical minerals from lignite before it is burned, and draws humic acid from the coal for fertilizer. College of Engineering & Mines

08/18/2026

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08/17/2026

Kentucky mines produced nearly 6 million tons of coal in the second quarter of 2026, an increase of about 3% over the same quarter last year, according to figures from the Energy and Environment Cabinet. Henderson County led the Commonwealth at nearly 1.9 million tons, followed by Hopkins at 1.1 million and Union at 800,000. Harlan County led the eastern coalfield at 600,000 tons.

08/14/2026

A seam is only worth what can be delivered from it. Most U.S. coal moves by rail, with barge and truck carrying the balance, and every export ton clears through a limited number of terminals. As Asian demand has lifted U.S. thermal exports, analysts have pointed to port and shipping capacity — not available supply — as the binding constraint. For Kentucky operators in both coalfields, logistics is as much of the business as the seam itself.

08/13/2026

KCA President Sam McKown presented "Coal in Kentucky: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Road Ahead" on August 7 at the 39th Annual Kentucky Professional Engineers in Mining Seminar in Lexington, co-sponsored by the University of Kentucky Pigman College of Engineering and Society for Mining, Metallurgy, & Exploration (SME)'s Central Appalachian Section. The seminar brought mining engineers from across the Commonwealth together for a full day of professional development.

08/12/2026

Attorney General Russell Coleman has appointed two veterans of Kentucky's energy industry to the executive committee of the Energy Planning and Inventory Commission. Tony Campbell recently retired from East Kentucky Power Cooperative after 16 years as president and CEO. Matt Ricketts, a Union County native, leads Crounse Corporation, one of the largest carriers of bulk coal and limestone on the U.S. inland waterway system.

08/11/2026

Reclamation is not a promise made after mining. It is a condition of the permit. Under Title V of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, an operator cannot begin work until a reclamation plan is approved and a performance bond is posted covering the cost of carrying that plan out. The bond is released in three stages: after backfilling, regrading and drainage control; after topsoil replacement and revegetation; and finally only after the site meets revegetation success standards at the end of a responsibility period running five to ten years depending on the site. If the operator does not finish, the surety pays the regulator or performs the work itself. The standard is land returned to a condition capable of supporting the uses it could before any mining, or higher and better uses.

08/07/2026

The United States holds the largest coal reserves of any nation on Earth — and the world is buying. Asia's demand has pushed U.S. thermal coal exports higher for three straight months, as China, Japan, and South Korea buy more for summer power. Analysts note America's main constraint isn't supply but infrastructure — port and shipping capacity. With the world's largest reserves and rising demand abroad, Kentucky coal has a growing role on the global stage.

Address

880 Corporate Drive
Lexington, KY
40503

Telephone

859-233-4743

Website

https://kentuckycoal.com/

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