Coal mining in Wyoming

Coal mining in Wyoming has long been a significant part of the state's economy.

[3] Market forces, including the low price of natural gas from the fracking boom—coal's main competition—contributed to the steep drop in coal production in the 2000s as electricity generation switched from coal to gas.

After the shale gas boom, economics became stressed for coal, and companies like Peabody filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2016.

[9][10] At peak production in 2008, 468 million short tons of coal were mined in Wyoming, and the coal-mining industry employed 6,827 people.

[11] By 2015, Wyoming annual production had declined 20 percent, to 376 million short tons, and the industry employed 6,635 people.