The average operating life-span of a coal plant is about 40 years. Over 90% of all coal plants in the US were built prior to '80, meaning theyre at, or beyond, their life span. Obama regs in place or not, these plants were looking at the end of their operational period no matter what.
Now, check out the bottom map on this page showing the plants that are planned, or have, come online from 2017 to 18.
Why you think they’re all red (natural gas) and green (wind) and yellow (solar)? Nothing stands in the way of these providers constructing new coal plants, especially with Trump attempting to prop up the industry. So, why then would they not choose coal? Because NG and renewables are cheaper than coal plants in terms of operations, maintenance and acquisition of the fuel (ahttps://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/html/epa_08_04.html). Natural gas is cheaper simply because of the abundant supply we have, increasing since '08-'09, which is coincidentally when demand for coal began to drop as the price for coal increased. Costs for renewables has fallen dramatically, and they have the distinct benefit of not having costs associated with harvesting the energy to power plants, as compared to fossil-fuel powered plants.
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