As coal stockpiles at power plants rise, shippers are reducing coal railcar loadings

Coal stockpiles at electric generating facilities totaled 197 million tons at the end of 2015, the highest level since June 2012 and the highest year-end inventories in at least 25 years. More than 40 million tons of coal were added to stockpiles at electric generating facilities from September-December, the largest build during that timespan in at least 15 years. In addition to relatively low overall electricity generation, coal-fired electricity has recently been losing market share to natural gas and renewable generation. More »