January 31, 2026 - Harlan County, Kentucky has always been coal country, and the coal industry has been one of its biggest employers for around 100 years. While the industry has suffered many drawbacks since the turn of the century, it is expected coal will still be a major player in Harlan in the coming year and beyond. 

Harlan County Judge-Executive Dan Mosley provided information on the immediate future of coal in Harlan County during a recent interview. 

“The projections on tonnage look good,” Mosley said. “They don’t look as great as what they did two or three decades ago. It’s still a large part of our economy and we have several mines here that are employing a lot of people.” 

The Harlan County Coal monument

File Photo

Mosley mentioned companies such as Nally and Hamilton, Bluegrass Natural Resources, and 101 (formerly JRL) are all involved in mining operations in Harlan County.  “These folks are mining a lot of metallurgical coal, which is used to make steel,”

Mosley said. “It’s a huge part of our economy…you’ve got to have coal to make steel.” 

Harlan County coal is also used overseas.

“In addition to domestic production, one of the companies has a contract that sells (coal) internationally to markets in places like China,” Mosley said. “China’s buying a lot of coal. They’re building coal fired power plants continually. They don’t mine enough coal there to meet the demands that they have. I think coal will continue to be a part of our economy for years to come.”  Mosley noted Artificial Intelligence technology will be a large factor in the future of the coal industry. 

“Data centers pull a lot of power,” Mosley said. “It (coal) is going to be needed. Our population in this country continues to grow, although in rural America you see declines in population, overall, nationally we continue to grow. There has to be a reliable source of energy to back up the power grid, and coal does that like nothing else.”   

In a previous report, U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (R) presented his plan to revitalize the coal industry during a visit to Lynch. He explained one aspect of his plan he has already introduced in Congress. 

“I’ve introduced this legislation in this term of Congress, it’s called (the) Securing Reliable Power for Advanced Technologies Act,” Barr said. “My committee, the House Financial Services Committee, has jurisdiction over what’s call the Defense Production Act. The Defense Production Act authorizes the president for national security purposes to mandate the production of key critical industries and products. There is no more critical national security sensitive product that we need in this country more than energy. And these coal miners right here provide it every single day. We need more of it.” 

Mosley pointed out that many land holding corporations have land rich in coal deposits. 

“That’s encouraging to know that’s there,” Mosley said. “It creates jobs, it creates tax revenue for the community to continue to make improvements. I’m encouraged about where we are as it relates to coal and the future it will continue to have here.”