Renewable energy produces as much as coal for first time
Dan Diehl
According to the US Energy Information Administration, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are now producing as much energy in the US as coal power plants for the first time ever. As I’ve written about before, power producers are turning off coal plants as natural gas and renewable sources are cheaper. This has reduced coal’s portion of the US power mix from around half in 2008 to less than 20% now. On top of this bad news for coal, many coal mining companies have been paying out big dividends and buying back their own stock to boost investor’s profits. Now their revenue is down and the piggy bank is running dry.