According to statistics from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), for several decades, there were few new coal-fired plants being built, Owing mainly to environmental opposition and the resulting legal and regulatory challenges, natural gas units and, more recently, wind turbines were being built instead. But that trend may be changing somewhat. In 2009, both the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)[a] and the EIA[ii] report new coal-fired plants came on line. According to NETL, 3,218 megawatts of coal-fired power plants came on-line in 2009, the most in one year since 1991. Further, NETL reports that 22 units are in the construction pipeline, while EIA reports that 5 new coal-fired units came on line in just the first 6 months of this year.
