Utah is one of six states that gets more than two-thirds of its energy from coal. Nationally, coal provides about 32 percent of the nation’s electricity.
In an analysis published earlier this month by the Utah Foundation, a nonpartisan Salt Lake City think-tank, coal production was shown to have declined statewide for years, with 2015 production little more than half of what it was in 2001.
In addition, the cost of electricity from natural gas, wind and solar is now typically lower than operating, maintaining and upgrading coal-fueled resources, according to the study.
