October 5, 2026 - U.S. domestic coal deliveries totaled approximately 92.2 million short tons during the second quarter of 2026, with electricity generation continuing to account for the vast majority of shipments, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Deliveries during April–June declined 6.4%, or approximately 6.3 million short tons, compared with the same period in 2025. They also fell 8.3%, or about 8.3 million short tons, from the first quarter of 2026. The figures appear in EIA’s Quarterly Coal Distribution Report, released October 1.

Electric utilities, independent power producers and utility combined heat-and-power plants received approximately 83.6 million short tons, representing 90.7% of domestic deliveries.

Other industrial plants received approximately 4.9 million short tons, while coke plants received 3.6 million short tons. Commercial and institutional customers accounted for approximately 124,000 short tons. These figures show that power generation remains the principal domestic market for U.S. coal, alongside its use in manufacturing and coke production.

Wyoming remained the country’s largest source of domestic coal shipments, supplying approximately 43.2 million short tons to customers in 24 states. That represented nearly 47% of all domestic deliveries.

West Virginia ranked second among supplying states at approximately 10.4 million short tons, followed by Illinois at 6.5 million, North Dakota at 5.8 million and Kentucky at 5.7 million.

West Virginia also supplied approximately 2.4 million short tons to domestic coke plants—about two-thirds of the nationwide total delivered to that sector. Coke is an important fuel and raw material in traditional blast-furnace steelmaking.

Texas was the largest destination for domestic coal, receiving approximately 10.6 million short tons. Almost all of those deliveries went to electricity generators.

Kentucky ranked second among destination states, receiving approximately 7.6 million short tons. North Dakota followed at 5.9 million, Indiana at 5.6 million and Illinois at 5.5 million.

Wyoming supplied approximately 7.4 million short tons to Texas, accounting for nearly 70% of the state’s domestic coal receipts.

Railroads remained the dominant transportation method, carrying approximately 65.1 million short tons, or 70.7% of domestic shipments. River transportation handled 12.6 million short tons, representing 13.7%.

Trucks carried approximately 7.3 million short tons, or 7.9%, while tramways and conveyors moved 7.1 million short tons, or 7.7%. Conveyor and tramway deliveries are commonly associated with power plants located near coal mines.

The report tracks coal deliveries within the United States by supplying state, receiving state, transportation method and customer sector. Its totals should not be interpreted as total U.S. coal production or consumption, and they exclude coal imports and exports.

Deliveries measure coal received by customers during the quarter, rather than the amount actually burned during that period. EIA also excludes waste coal from this report.

All quarterly figures are preliminary and will be updated in the Annual Coal Distribution Report.