Coal production in the first three months of 2016 was 173 million short tons (MMst), the lowest quarterly level in the United States since a major coal strike in the second quarter of 1981. Among the supply regions, coal production from the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming declined the most in tonnage and percentage since the previous quarter.
Coal production has declined because of increasingly challenging market conditions for coal producers. Electricity generation accounts for more than 90% of domestic coal use.
