We updated our Coal Markets Report for the business week ending August 7, 2026.

U.S. coal-fired generation increased by 13% in 2025 as stronger electricity demand from data centres, manufacturing and hotter summer weather lifted power generation, contributing to a rise in power-sector carbon dioxide emissions.

"The United States is making clear that critical minerals are a matter of national security, and we are proud to be part of the conversation," said Mark C. Jensen, Chairman and CEO of American Resources Corporation.

A new report reveals that coal miners in central Appalachia are suffering from black lung disease at the highest rates in nearly 50 years.

Utilities are now being asked to supply more power than they expected just a few years ago, said Steve Piper, director of North American power and renewables research at S&P Global Energy.

Republican Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman is appointing the former CEO of electric utility East Kentucky Power Cooperative and a CEO of a barge company to a commission that the state legislature is looking to for advice on energy policy.