American firms have retired or announced plans to close down shut or convert about 36,000MW of older coal-fired plants over the next few years, reports Reuters.
The companies are working to cut down emissions in advance of new environmental rules and shift to cost-effective natural gas.
Coal plants account for nearly 316,000MW of generation in the US, or about 30% of the country 1,039,000MW electric fleet.
Coal-fired generators were anticipated to produce about 38% of the country’s power supply last year, down from 42% in 2011, the government data showed.
However, the Energy Information Administration is expecting coal to generate about 40% of the power in US this year.
