A report from the U.S. Department of Energy shows the U.S. used a record amount of natural gas-fired generation in February.

Public Service of New Hampshire suspended operations at its 460 MW Merrimack coal-fired power plant saying that it is cheaper to buy the electricity on the open market.

Hoosier Energy plans to retire its 250 MW Ratts coal-fired power plant in Indiana in 2015.

Purdue University officials on May 7 presented a Comprehensive Energy Master Plan (CEMP), which calls for $33.1 million to be used to demolish an old coal-burning boiler, convert another coal-burning boiler to natural gas, install a natural gas-fired combined heat and power unit, and increase steam distribution along Jischke Drive.

Wisconsin Energy said it expects the 615 MW Unit 1 at the Elm Road coal-fired power plant in Wisconsin to be back online by the end of May.

AES Corp. will sell 2,727 MW of coal-fired capacity in China for $134 million because it is unable to pass on higher coal costs to customers.

The Babcock & Wilcox Co. said that its subsidiary, Babcock & Wilcox Canada Ltd. (B&W Canada), has been awarded a $25 million contract from SaskPower to design and retrofit SaskPower’s 300 MW Shand coal-fired power plant in Saskatchewan.

Rocky Mountain Power LLC, which owns the Hardin coal-fired power plant in Montana, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on April 23.

Patriot Coal Corp. on April 20 said it plans to further reduce thermal coal production.

Day & Zimmermann NPS signed a five-year contract to provide full-service outage management, power plant maintenance and boiler repairs and modifications to We Energies’ ten fossil-fueled power plants in Wisconsin and Michigan.

L & L Energy Inc. has signed a long-term sales contract with China-based Datang International Power Generation Co. Ltd. to provide thermal coal for its HeShan power plant.

The Babcock & Wilcox Co. said its subsidiary, Power Systems Operations Inc., has been awarded a 10-year contract valued at more than $40 million to provide operations and maintenance (O&M) services for Ebensburg Power Co.’s 50 MW power plant in Ebensburg, Pa.

Natural gas generation is fueling a decline in the use of coal despite a drop in coal prices.

The 745 MW Salem Harbor Power Station in Massachusetts could soon be converted into a natural gas-fired power plant.

Coal consumption in the U.S. power sector fell by 4 percent in 2011 and will decline by another 2 percent this year, the Energy Information Administration said in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook.

A judge ruled that a $2.8 billion, 895 MW coal-fired power plant cannot be built until there is an environmental review.

This list is featured in the January 2012 issue of Power Engineering magazine.

AES Eastern Energy, a subsidiary of AES Corp., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 3.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) told Luminant, a unit of Energy Future Holdings Corp., that the company could shut down two coal-fired power plants without jeopardizing the stability of the state’s electrical grid.