Q: Utilities across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic have successfully argued to state utilities commissions that coal represents the most affordable fuel choice with a record of price stability. Has the price of coal increased or decreased in recent years? How have price fluctuations compared with those of other energy sources?
So far, we have been able to provide weekly spot market price estimates, courtesy of the Energy Information Administration, for 5 different coal regions between July of 2000 up to within the last few weeks. We will soon be adding the capability to adjust for inflation, but currently these prices are not adjusted. Here’s an example of how prices have varied over the past 8 years for Central Appalachian coal:
Click image to view an interactive chart, or click here to see how the query was performed using the Coal Price Datafinder on Open Source Coal.
Of course, it’s not only Central Appalachian coal that has been increasing in recent years – here’s a similar image of Powder River Basin coal prices:
Click image to view an interactive chart, or click here to see how the query was performed using the Coal Price Datafinder on Open Source Coal.
Now, Open Source Coal has the capability to graph multiple regions on the same line graph. The following example shows the fluctuations in the price of coal in all US coal mining regions. (In the graph above, the Powder River Basin shows dramatic spikes and dips–sometimes more than a 300% change in the course of a year. However, these swings do not show up so clearly when graphed with the other regions. The much higher price of some of the coal regions requires the scale of the graph to be larger; therefore, the fluctuations in the lower-priced coal regions do not appear as dramatic.)
Click image to view an interactive chart, or click here to see how the query was performed using the Coal Price Datafinder on Open Source Coal.
Finally, Open Source Coal is now able to graph the estimated price of renewable energy along with some of the regions. Here’s an example of the cost of estimated wind, biomass, and efficiency graphed with price of Central Appalachian coal:
Click image to view an interactive chart, or click here to see how the query was performed using the Coal Price Datafinder on Open Source Coal.
