Energy agency says coal mining will make small gain by 2018

Production in the west will be up nearly a percent, while the Appalachian region will continue to decline.

In this Jan. 9, 2014, file photo, rail cars are filled with coal and sprayed with a topper agent to suppress dust at Cloud Peak Energy’s Antelope Mine north of Douglas, Wyo. Six of the country’s major energy-producing states have slipped into recession after a sharp decline in production and exploration over the last 18 months caused their tax revenue to plummet, according to a financial analysis released Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. (Ryan Dorgan/Casper Star-Tribune via AP, File)

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Coal mining in the Western United States is expected to get a small bump over the next two years after falling last year to its lowest level since 1978.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday projected the increase will come in response to rising prices for a competing fuel, natural gas.

Both fuels are used to generate electricity. Coal’s market share dropped sharply in recent years due to low gas prices and pollution regulations.

The energy agency says production from mines in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah and other Western states would rise to 443 million tons by 2018, an increase of almost one percent.

A continued decline is forecast for the Appalachian region. Production will stay relatively flat in the Illinois Basin and other areas of the central U.S.

— The Associated Press