Oklahoma doesn’t have the kind of coal industry compared to Kentucky or Wyoming so the latest news out of the U.S. Energy Information Administration might not be so surprising.
But the amount of coal burned for electricity in 2016 was the lowest since 1984. It amounted to 677 million short tons burned which accounted for 93 percent of total coal consumption for the entire year.
The EIA said the electricity sector burned 35 percent less coal last year than 2008 which was the high point for U.S. coal production.
Production in Wyoming was at its lowest in decades last year and most of the coal for electricity is mined there. The drop in production resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs.
