EIA report says coal stockpiles are at their highest level since 2020

According to a report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the stockpiles of coal in the United States are at their highest levels since 2020.

Coal stockpiles at U.S. electric power plants totaled 138 million short tons through May, which EIA said is the most since the first half of 2020.

Coal is typically most consumed by power plants during the summer and winter. Because power plants consume more coal during the warm summer months, power plants typically begin increasing their coal stocks in the spring as plant operators prepare.

U.S. coal power plants generally stockpile much more coal than they consume in a month. Currently, more than 90 percent of coal-fired power plants have enough coal on hand to generate electricity for 60 days or more. Coal plant operators keep extra coal on hand because physical delivery constraints in the supply chain limit how quickly coal plants can increase their stockpiles.

As coal-fired electricity generation has declined in the United States over the last decade, coal plant stockpiles have also generally declined. Coal consumption by the electric power sector totaled 385 million tons in 2023, which is some 43 percent less than in 2016. Further, coal stockpiles reached 131 million tons by the end of 2023, which is 19 percent less than stockpiles at the end of 2016.

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