Coal and jobs in the United States

Total coal-related jobs

There are approximately 174,000 blue-collar, full-time, permanent jobs related to coal in the U.S.: mining (83,000), transportation (31,000), and power plant employment (60,000). (See below for details on each sector.) The U.S. civilian labor force totaled 141,730,000 workers in 2005; thus, permanent blue-collar coal industry employees represent 0.12% of the U.S. workforce. (Compare this percentage with the 1.89% of U.S. workers who worked in coal mining alone in 1920.)

This total does not include indirect employment - workers who are not directly employed in the coal industry, but whose jobs are supported by that industry. It is entirely possible that thousands - even tens of thousands - of workers are indirectly supported entirely by the coal industry. However, the National Coal Association's 1994 estimate that the coal industry directly and indirectly employs around 1.5 million people seems exaggerated. The level of indirect employment is in the low hundreds of thousands - not in the millions.

A 2014 assessment of global jobs found coal provides about seven million worldwide, while renewables (excluding biomass) provide 5.4 million worldwide, despite having only a quarter of the energy share as coal.

Coal mining jobs

In 2013, there were 80,209 people employed in coal mining in the U.S. Of those, 47,475 worked in underground mining, and 35,398 worked in surface mining.

Here is a breakdown of the geographical distribution of underground coal mining jobs in 2006 (with coal production in thousands of short tons):

State	Total Coal Production	Underground Mining Jobs	Surface Mining Jobs	Total Jobs	Annual Production Per Miner
Alabama	18,620	3,077	1,135	4,212	4.4
Alaska	1,632	-	125	125	13.1
Arizona	7,603	-	405	405	18.8
Arkansas	59	52	2	54	1.1
Colorado	24,236	1,705	470	2,175	11.1
Illinois	52,147	3,660	504	4,164	12.5
Indiana	39,102	1,986	1,626	3,612	10.8
Kansas	22	-	7	7	3.1
Kentucky	80,380	8,938	3,967	12,905	6.2
Louisiana	2,810	-	280	280	10.0
Maryland	1,925	184	221	405	4.8
Mississippi	3,575	-	309	309	11.6
Missouri	414	-	24	24	17.3
Montana	42,231	333	914	1,247	33.9
New Mexico	21,969	492	794	1,286	17.1
North Dakota	27,639	-	1,242	1,242	22.3
Ohio	25,113	2,063	1,080	3,143	8.0
Oklahoma	1,136	79	125	204	5.6
Pennsylvania	50,870	5,988	2,394	8,382	6.1
Tennessee	1,098	162	135	297	3.7
Texas	42,851	-	2,819	2,819	15.2
Utah	16,977	1,385	52	1,437	11.8
Virginia	16,619	3,428	1,093	4,521	3.7
West Virginia	115,925	15,694	4,587	20,281	5.7
Wyoming	387,924	278	6,395	6,673	58.1
Total	982,877	49,504	30,705	80,209	12.3

From these data, we can see the huge discrepancy in coal mine productivity between Western and Eastern mines. Montana (with 942 coal miners) produces more coal than Virginia (with 5,262 coal miners). Wyoming (with 5,837 coal miners) produces more coal than West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Alabama, and Illinois combined (with a total of 58,995 coal miners). Due to this discrepancy, the coal mining industry has increasingly moved production to these Western states (especially to the Powder River Basin), and has dramatically cut its workforce in Appalachia.

Since 1900, technological developments in the coal mining industry have dramatically increased miner productivity; thus, while U.S. coal production is currently at a record high, mining employment is a fraction of what it was during the heyday of coal mining in the 1910's and 20's:

Year	Total U.S. Coal Production	Total U.S. Coal Miner Employment	Annual Production Per Miner
1900	269,684	448,581	0.60
1910	501,596	725,030	0.69
1920	658,265	784,621	0.84
1930	527,172	644,006	0.82
1940	512,256	530,388	0.97
1950	560,388	488,206	1.15
1955	490,838	258,616	1.90
1960	434,329	188,451	2.30
1965	526,954	144,864	3.64
1970	612,659	146,078	4.19
1975	654,641	193,787	3.38
1980	829,700	228,569	3.63
1985	883,638	169,281	5.22
1990	1,029,076	131,306	7.84
1995	1,033,000	83,462	12.38
2000	1,073,600	71,522	15.01
2006	1,162,750	82,595	14.08
2013	982,877	80,209	12.25

Earnings and unionization in coal mining

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average earnings of nonsupervisory coal workers in 2006 was $1,093 per week or $22.08 per hour. For private industry as a whole, average nonsupervisory worker earnings in 2006 were $568 per week or $16.76 per hour. In the coal, metal ore, and nonmetallic mineral mining industries, 19 percent of workers were union members in 2006, compared with 12 percent of workers throughout private industry.

Coal mining jobs versus wind power jobs

Wind industry jobs surpassed coal mining jobs in 2008, as wind employment increased by 70% from 50,000 in 2007 to 85,000 in 2008.

Coal-fired power plant jobs

According to Singh & Fehrs' 2001 analysis of Energy Information Administration data, the average coal-fired power plant - per megawatt of peak capacity - employs 0.18 people in operations & maintenance on a permanent basis. Thus, the average 300 MW coal-fired power plant would employ 54 people in operation & maintenance on an ongoing basis. This corresponds closely with the Energy Information Administration's assessment that, in 1997, the average 300 MW coal-fired power plant had 53 employees.

Using this estimate, we can create an approximate calculation of the total employment of operation & maintenance staff in coal-fired power plants in the U.S.:

Rank	State	Total Number of Coal Plants	Total Coal Plant Capacity	Total Coal Plant O&M Jobs (est.)
1	Ohio	114	23,825 MW	4,289
2	Indiana	90	21,551 MW	3,879
3	Texas	40	21,238 MW	3,823
4	Pennsylvania	78	20,475 MW	3,686
5	Illinois	83	17,565 MW	3,162
6	Kentucky	56	16,510 MW	2,972
7	West Virginia	42	15,372 MW	2,767
8	Georgia	46	14,594 MW	2,627
9	North Carolina	67	13,279 MW	2,390
10	Michigan	88	12,891 MW	2,320
11	Alabama	45	12,684 MW	2,283
12	Missouri	56	11,810 MW	2,126
13	Florida	30	11,382 MW	2,049
14	Tennessee	62	10,290 MW	1,852
15	Wisconsin	70	7,123 MW	1,282
16	Iowa	72	6,492 MW	1,169
17	South Carolina	36	6,469 MW	1,164
18	Virginia	55	6,208 MW	1,117
19	Wyoming	23	6,168 MW	1,110
20	Oklahoma	15	5,720 MW	1,030
21	Arizona	16	5,681 MW	1,023
22	Minnesota	46	5,676 MW	1,022
23	Kansas	16	5,473 MW	985
24	Colorado	33	5,308 MW	955
25	Maryland	18	5,236 MW	942
26	Utah	16	5,080 MW	914
27	New Mexico	11	4,382 MW	789
28	New York	48	4,273 MW	769
29	North Dakota	15	4,246 MW	764
30	Arkansas	5	3,958 MW	712
31	Louisiana	6	3,764 MW	678
32	Nebraska	16	3,212 MW	578
33	Nevada	8	2,769 MW	498
34	Mississippi	9	2,696 MW	485
35	Montana	7	2,536 MW	456
36	New Jersey	9	2,237 MW	403
37	Massachusetts	12	1,776 MW	320
38	Washington	2	1,460 MW	263
39	Delaware	10	1,082 MW	195
40	Connecticut	2	614 MW	111
41	New Hampshire	5	609 MW	110
42	Oregon	1	601 MW	108
43	South Dakota	2	481 MW	87
44	California	10	439 MW	79
45	Hawaii	1	203 MW	37
46	Alaska	18	118 MW	21
47	Maine	1	103 MW	19
48	Idaho	6	19 MW	3
49	Rhode Island	0	0 MW	0
50	Vermont	0	0 MW	0
	Total U.S.	1,522	335,891 MW	60,460

This estimate of about 60,000 jobs in operations & maintenance in all U.S. coal-fired power plants seems reasonable, as 2006 U.S. Department of Labor data tells us that installation, maintenance, repair, and production occupations employed 160,980 people at all power plants in the U.S. in 2006. As coal power plants provided 31.2% of generating capacity and generated 49.0% of U.S. electricity in 2006, it seems reasonable that coal-fired power plants would employ 37.6% of power plant operations & maintenance workers in the U.S.

Average coal power plant employment has fallen dramatically over the past few decades - both due to technological developments and to rising labor costs. In 1985, according to the EIA, the average 300 MW coal-fired power plant had 78 employees; thus, employment per megawatt declined by 32% between 1985 and 1997.

Coal transportation jobs

Again, according to their 2001 analysis of Energy Information Administration data, Singh & Fehrs - starting with the proportion of coal that is transported by various means (95.9% by rail, 3.8% by barge, and 0.4% by truck), then calculating the average jobs per unit cost for these shipping industries, then applying coal shipping costs to these calculations - estimate that coal transportation employed 30,757 workers in 1995.

Age of workers

Coal plants

The average age of coal plant workers is 48 years. A study by Krishnan and Associates concluded that "a 2,000 MW coal-fired plant with about 200 to 250 employees will likely lose half its current plant staff in the next decade due to retirement, attrition and other similar issues."

Mines

The average age of coal miners in West Virginia is 55.

Coal, income, and poverty

There are 54 coal mines in the U.S. that produced more than 4 million tons of coal in 2006; these 54 mines are located in 34 counties. The median 2005 poverty rate in these 34 counties was 15.5% - 17% higher than the U.S. average of 13.3%. The median 2000 per capita income in these 34 counties was $16,246 - 25% lower than the U.S. average of $21,587.

There are 404 coal-fired power plants in the U.S. with a capacity greater than 100 MW. The median 2005 poverty rate in the counties in which these 404 plants are located was 13.4% - roughly the same as the U.S. average. Here is a graph of the distribution of these 404 plants by 2005 county poverty rate:

County Poverty Rate Range	Deviation from U.S. Average	# of Plants	Total Capacity
3.8 - 6.6%	-50% to -71%	26	20,046 MW
6.7 - 9.9%	-25% to -50%	63	54,292 MW
10.0 - 13.2%	0 to -25%	106	74,001 MW
13.3 - 16.5%	0 to +25%	105	84,811 MW
16.6 - 19.9%	+25% to +50%	63	52,004 MW
20.0 - 26.6%	+50% to +100%	30	29,261 MW
26.6 - 41.7%	+100% to +214%	11	7,329 MW

However, in 2000, the median per capita income in the counties in which these 404 plants were located was $18,465 - 15% lower than the U.S. average. Here is a graph of the distribution of these 404 plants by 2000 county per capita income:

County Per Capita Income Range	Deviation from U.S. Average	# of Plants	Total Capacity
$8,986 - 12,952	-40% to -58%	6	4,600 MW
$12,953 - 17,270	-20% to -40%	141	127,049 MW
$17,271 - 21,587	0 to -20%	178	140,817 MW
$21,588 - 25,904	0 to +20%	59	42,844 MW
$25,905 - 30,222	+20% to +40%	15	9,063 MW
$30,223 - 38,550	+40% to +78%	5	2,492 MW

Out of the 404 coal power plants in the U.S. with capacity over 100 MW, 80.4% are in counties that have a lower per capita income than the U.S. average.

To a certain extent, there is an inverse relationship between poverty rates and income levels: the highest income levels tend to be in cities, where poverty rates are also high; lower income levels tend to be in rural areas, where poverty rates are also low. Thus, since most existing coal power plants are in rural areas, the poverty rates are roughly average for the U.S., even though per capita income in those areas is lower than average. However, out of the 404 U.S. coal plants with capacity over 100 MW, 82 - with a total capacity of 73,769 MW, or 22% of U.S. coal power capacity - are in counties that have poverty rates that are at least 25% higher than the U.S. average, as well as per capita income levels that are at least 20% lower than the U.S. average. These 82 plants are thus in some of the most economically devastated areas in the U.S.; 49 are in the South, 23 are in Appalachia, 32 are in counties that are either more than 25% black or more than 25% Latino, and 9 are in counties that are more than 20% Native American.

New coal plants and number of jobs

A 2011 Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies report, "A Fraction of the Jobs" found that power companies have overestimated the number of jobs created by new coal-fired power plants. The analysis looked at the six largest new coal-fired power plants to come online between 2005 and 2009, and combed through each project’s initial proposals and job projection data, including public statements, published documents and other material. They then compared that data to actual employment — before, during and after construction — in the areas where the projects were built, relying chiefly on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

They found that only a little over half - or 56 percent - of every 1,000 jobs projected, appeared to be actually created as a result of the coal plants’ coming online. In four of the six counties, the projects delivered on just over a quarter of the jobs projected. Only one county, the Walter Scott unit number 4 project in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, saw an increase in construction employment that was roughly commensurate with the numbers predicted before the project there got under way.

Construction Employment Change in Counties with New Coal Plants

Plant	County	Total Projected Employment	Actual County Construction Employment Change (Peak)	Actual Change as % of Projection
Sandow Unit 5	Milam	1,370	463	33.7%
Nebraska City Station Unit 2	Otoe	N/A	-73	N/A
Weston Unit 4	Marathon	1,200	429	35.7%
Council Bluffs Energy Center Unit 4	Pottawattamie	1,000	2,407	240.7%
Cross 3 & 4	Berkeley	1,400	509	36.3%
Oak Grove Units 1 & 2	Robertson	2,400	329	13.7%

Cancelled coal plants and jobs

The decline of U.S. coal 2012-2016.

In September 2011, the National Mining Association issued a press release stating that potentially 1.24 million jobs in 36 states had been destroyed by the Sierra Club’s “Beyond Coal” campaign aimed at stopping construction of new coal-based power plants. The number was based on NMA projections of jobs that would have been created had the plants come online. The Sierra Club stated that power companies routinely overstate the number of jobs that would be created by a new plant, and that the report did not take into account the jobs created in other energy sectors because the coal-fired power plants were not built.

Coal regulations and jobs

Some companies argue that coal regulations would affect jobs in the power industry and slow overall economic growth. A June 2011 study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), "A lifesaver, not a job killer: EPA's proposed "air toxics rule" is no threat to job growth" found that new regulations on mercury, arsenic and other toxic air pollution from power plants proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in March 2011 would actually have a slightly positive impact on job growth and economic health.

The study found that:

• The toxics rule would have a modest positive net impact on overall employment, likely leading to the creation of 28,000 to 158,000 jobs between now and 2015. (This estimate reflects the specific findings that follow below.)
• The employment effect of the toxics rule on the utility industry itself could range from 17,000 jobs lost to 35,000 jobs gained.
• The toxics rule would create between 81,000 and 101,000 jobs in the pollution abatement and control industry (which includes suppliers such as steelmakers).
• Between 31,000 and 46,000 jobs would be lost due to higher energy prices leading to reductions in output.
• Assuming a re-spending multiplier of 0.5, and since the net impact of the above impacts is positive, another 9,000 to 53,000 jobs would be created through re-spending.

Mountaintop removal regulations and jobs

According to MSHA data, the number of mining jobs in Appalachia has increased by 3.5 percent since the EPA began its enhanced review of mountaintop-removal permits in 2009, and 8.5 percent since the start of the 2008 recession. Grist argues that because underground mines employ more miners than mountaintop-removal mines for every ton of coal unearthed, stricter enforcement leads to an increase in mining jobs.

An April 2011 study, “Mountaintop removal and Job Creation: Exploring the Relationship Using Spatial Regression” published in the peer-reviewed Annals of the Association of American Geographers (subscription req'd), looked at GIS data of West Virginia strip-mine permit boundaries and compared it to population and economic data to see if being located near a larger mining operation made a community more likely to have large numbers of residents employed by the coal industry. They found that, contrary to pro-MTR arguments, "there was no supporting evidence suggesting MTR contributed positively to nearby communities’ employment."

The study said: "Our research question was straightforward: Is there a relationship between the size of MTR mining and employment, which justifies the ‘coal means jobs’ mantra? The results of the overall model suggested insufficient evidence to support a positive relationship between mine size (either MTR mining or underground mining) and percentage of the working population employed in coal mining. This finding casts doubt on the pervasive and dominant argument of MTR advocates." The study noted that it looked only at direct employment by the mining industry, and not other local occupations that service that industry.

Declining coal jobs in eastern Kentucky

Tracking numbers from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet showed employment at Eastern Kentucky mines falling from 13,608 jobs in December 2011 to 9,540 in December 2012 — a decline of 4,068 jobs. Production in the area also fell to 49.4 million tons — the lowest level since 1965. The decline has been attributed to the increasing use by US utilities of natural gas over coal, the updating of coal regulations, and that the remaining coal in Eastern Kentucky is harder to extract, making the costs of production higher. Employment and production in western Kentucky remained steady.Arthur Neslen, "Spain to close most coalmines in €250m transition deal," The Guardian, 26 October 2018</ref>

Transition programs

Spain

In October 2018, the administration of Pedro Sánchez struck a deal with unions for a €250 million investment program in mining regions over the next decade. More than 1,000 miners and subcontractors will lose their jobs when 10 mines close at the end of 2018. The miners were uneconomic but were kept open under a €2.1bn state aid plan. Under the jobs deal, 600 coal workers will benefit from social aid, while about 60% of the miners will be able to opt for early retirement. As recently as the 1960s, Spain had more than 100,000 coal miners.

Reports

Appalachian Voices

The 2013 Appalachian Voices report, "Growth of U.S. Coal Jobs: Federal Data Showing Coal Mining Employment Trending Higher Since 2009," looks at Mining Safety and Health Administration data on coal mining jobs, which shows that the average number of coal-mining jobs under the Obama administration has been 15.3 percent higher than the average under George W. Bush. The report points to increased exports and decreasing productivity - requiring more workers to extract harder to reach coal - as reasons for the increase.

Resources

Related GEM.wiki Resources

• Coal
• Campus coal plants
• Coal-fired power plant capacity and generation
• Coal phase-out
• Coal plant conversion projects
• Coal plants near residential areas
• Existing U.S. Coal Plants
• Natural gas transmission leakage rates
• Opposition to existing coal plants

External links

• "U.S. Coal Mine Employment by State, Region and Method of Mining - 2006," National Mining Association, December 2007.
• "Job Opportunities for the Green Economy," Political Economy Research Institute, June 2008 (PDF file)
• Aaron Lehmer, Renewable Energy Development Creates More Jobs than Fossil Fuels, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.
• Roger Bezdek, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: Economic Drivers for the 21st Century, American Solar Energy Society, 2007.
• Sarah White & Jason Walsh, Greener Pathways: Jobs and Workforce Development in the Clean Energy Economy, Center on Wisconsin Strategy, 2008.
• Joanna Lee et al, Green Cities, Green Jobs, Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education, 2007.
• Green for All
• "Appendix C: Wind Related Jobs and Economic Development,"
• Robert Pollin & Jeannette Wicks-Lim, "Job opportunities for the green economy," Political Economy Research Institute, June 2008
• Ted Nace, "Vapor Jobs: Big Coal's Far-Out Plan for an Economic Stimulus," Gristmill, February 18, 2009
• An Analysis of the Economic Impact of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in the East Kentucky Power Cooperative Region, Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies, July 2009.