Coal-Fired Power Plants
Operators of coal combustion power generation facilities.
Market snapshot
These figures describe Coal & Thermal Power Generation (6.4.1), the segment that Coal-Fired Power Plants sits within — not Coal-Fired Power Plants on its own.
- Net generation
- ~737 TWh (16.6% of U.S. generation)
- Operating capacity
- ~188 GW nameplate
- Trend
- -6.1% CAGR (2018–2025)
- Share of U.S. generation
- 27.5% (2018) → 16.6% (2025)
U.S. Energy Information Administration — Electric Power Operational Data, 2025 (net generation, all sectors). U.S. Energy Information Administration — Form EIA-860M, December 2024 (operating generators). U.S. Energy Information Administration — Electric Power Operational Data, 2018–2025.
Coal generation is combined with natural gas and oil within fossil-fuel generation (NAICS 221112) and is not separately disclosed; coal is in structural decline (~16% of U.S. generation and falling), so the segment is not separately sized here.
Business model & economics
Revenue model
Wholesale power and capacity (declining)
Key economics
- Recurring revenue
- Moderate
- EBITDA margin
- Pressured; managed wind-down
- Capex intensity
- High
declining baseload generation
Characteristics
- Structural, accelerating decline.
- Displaced by gas, renewables, and regulation.
- Managed retirement and site repurposing.
M&A deal context
Who’s acquiring
- Utilities managing retirement
- Site-repurposing developers
- Reliability-focused operators
What’s driving deals
- Plant retirement and managed wind-down.
- Site repurposing (gas, solar, storage).
- Reliability-driven retirement-timing extensions.
Find Coal-Fired Power Plants acquisition targets
Search Acquisera’s index for companies classified under Coal-Fired Power Plants (6.4.1.2) and build a targeted deal pipeline.
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