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PRB coal slips in 2023, expected to resume long-term decline

GILLETTE — Powder River Basin coal mines entered 2024 back on a downhill slope, as the long-term trajectory of Campbell County’s legacy industry resumed its decline following a two-year upswing in production.

With an unexpected boost to coal demand fading away, the long-term trends of coal-fired power plant retirements and short-term availability of cheaper energy sources has put Wyoming coal back into a slide.

Wyoming’s 12 PRB mines — all in Campbell County — combined to produce about 230.4 million tons of coal in 2023, according to data from the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

That ma...