Gas is pricing coal back into the merit order across the Atlantic and Asia-Pacific basins at once, with both European and Asian gas now trading above coal on a delivered basis.
A mine safety crackdown in China has pulled coking coal output down sharply after fatal accidents in Shanxi and Hunan, sending Australian premium low-vol coking coal prices up more than $60/t since late July, to nearly $280/t.
Naval attacks in the Black Sea have shut off a route that carried 13% of Russia's total seaborne coal exports in 2025, forcing a costlier reroute through the Baltic.
Northeast and South Asian buyers are driving this year's sharpest seaborne demand growth, while India is expected back in the market from October after running stockpiles down hard.
Winter benchmark prices in Europe are already trading at levels that price in much of the anticipated upside, leaving traders debating how much further there is to run.
Coal markets rarely get reset by one story
This winter, they are being reset by three, and they are landing in the same six-week window.
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Kentucky Coal Leader Sees Data Centers, AI Driving Jobs and Energy Demand
One of Kentucky’s most prominent coal executives believes the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and data centers could create thousands of jobs in the Commonwealth while significantly increasing demand for electricity.
Joe Craft, president, CEO and director of Alliance Resource Partners, discussed the potential economic impact of artificial intelligence and data-center development during a recent panel hosted by University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto. Craft was joined by Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and University of Louisville President Gerry Bradley for a discussion focused on AI and Kentucky’s future workforce.
Joe Craft
Craft said Kentucky has an opportunity to develop a workforce capable of constructing and operating the large data centers increasingly being proposed across the state.
“There’s going to be quite a few thousands of jobs that will be needed for residents of the state of Kentucky,” Craft said, adding that data-center developers are having to develop workforces “from scratch” to handle both construction and ongoing operations.
Craft has led Alliance Resource Partners for decades. The Tulsa-based company describes itself as a diversified energy company with significant coal operations and mineral interests and says it is pursuing additional investments related to technology, energy and infrastructure.
Data Centers Could Bring Major New Power Demand
For Kentucky’s energy sector, the growth of data centers could be particularly significant because the facilities require enormous amounts of electricity.
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West Virginia Lawmakers and Regulators Push to Protect Aging Coal Plants
Lawmakers, state regulators and utilities are trying to ensure West Virginia's aging coal-fired power plants continue to provide base-load energy into the regional energy grid.
The Joint Committee on Energy and Public Works heard from officials with the Office of Energy, the Public Service Commission and the state's two electric utility companies about West Virginia's ability to provide coal-fired power to the PJM Interconnection, the regional grid that serves 13 states and Washington, D.C.
Nicholas Preservati, deputy secretary of the state Department of Commerce and director of the Office of Energy, said West Virginia is a key leader in the 13-state Governors' Collaborative, which is intervening with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reform PJM governance. Preservati criticized PJM emergency rules that force local coal plants to throttle down due to west-to-east transmission congestion, as well as rapid plant cycling that shortens equipment lifespans.
Nicholas Preservati
"We have gone up and met with the White House, we’ve met with DOE (U.S. Department of Energy), we’ve met with every FERC commissioner, and we’ve met with PJM," Preservati said. "We’re working to protect West Virginia’s interests at PJM because there’s a lot of dissatisfaction the way it’s being run."
PJM coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity, dispatching the power it needs for the regional grid on a minute-by-minute basis using the least expensive fuel sources first. While coal is considered base-load energy, it is not always the least expensive.
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Alabama County to Remember 13 Miners Killed in 2001 Blast
The public is invited to a Sept. 23 memorial service for 13 coal miners who died in an accidental explosion 25 years ago in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.
Music will start at 4 p.m., and the service will begin at 5 p.m. inside West Brookwood Church, 12882 Lock 17 Road in Brookwood.
The service honors the memories of 13 men who died in Jim Walter Resources Mine No. 5 on Sept. 23, 2001. Every year since the tragedy at the now-closed No. 5, family, friends, co-workers and others gather to honor the deceased, each Sept. 23.
Sep 23, 2025; Brookwood, Alabama, USA; Larry Spencer leads a delegation of people who are laying greenery at the memorial for the miners killed int eh Brookwood mining disaster during the 24th Annual Miners’ Memorial Service at West Brookwood Church.
Photo: Gary Cosby Jr., Tuscaloosa News
"I hope we never see another day like that," Larry Spencer, United Mine Workers of America International vice president of District 20, which encompasses much of the Southern U.S., said during the 2025 ceremony.
"That's one reason we do this (memorial event) every year. We want people to remember that this can happen, it will happen, so take care of your business."
A pair of blasts ripped through a now-closed Jim Walter Resources Mine No. 5 at Brookwood in 2001, less than two weeks after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Miners rushing in to help victims of the first explosion were fatally injured by the second one.
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EPA Rollback Could Give Coal-Fired Power New Life as Electricity Demand Grows
The outlook for America’s coal-fired power fleet has changed significantly following a major rollback of federal power plant regulations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a move coal industry leaders say could help prevent premature plant retirements and preserve demand for U.S. coal.
On September 14, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin finalized the repeal of most of the Biden administration’s 2024 greenhouse gas requirements for fossil fuel-fired power plants. At the same time, EPA proposed eliminating the remaining federal greenhouse gas standards for the power sector.
EPA estimates the finalized action will result in as much as $310 billion in savings, while its additional proposed repeal would save another $370 million in direct compliance costs over 20 years.
For the coal industry, however, the importance of the change goes well beyond compliance costs.
The 2024 regulations established carbon dioxide requirements for existing coal-fired generating units that planned to operate over the longer term, relying heavily on carbon capture and storage as a compliance pathway. Coal producers, utilities and industry groups had warned that the requirements could encourage utilities to retire otherwise-operable coal plants rather than make costly investments necessary to comply.
With most of those requirements now repealed, the economics surrounding the continued operation of coal-fired generating capacity could look considerably different.
EPA Sees Major Increase in Coal Use
EPA itself is projecting a potentially substantial effect on coal.
In announcing the repeal, the agency said coal production for power-sector use is expected to increase by more than tenfold compared with what would have occurred under the regulations being repealed.
The agency said the change removes regulatory barriers affecting domestic energy production and gives utilities greater flexibility to use the nation’s existing generating resources.
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