Coal demand has tanked over the past decade amid competition from cheap natural gas and expanded renewable energy sources. Now, plummeting energy demands due to COVID-19 have accelerated coal’s decline, with a 3% drop in electricity use expected in 2020, reports AP News.
Six of the top seven U.S. coal companies have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy since 2015 and analysts expect more as the economy dives.
Mining companies in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Virginia have had to temporarily stop operations to stop the spread of the virus, and some fear that COVID-19 may be the beginning of the end for coal.