OREANDA-NEWS. Coal in June lost market share to natural gas in the primary midcontinent power grid and lower-than-normal cooling demand further reduced demand for the fuel.

Coal last month accounted for 54pc of dispatched generation across the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) territory that covers all or parts of 15 states, stretching from the Canadian border to the Gulf coast. That compares with 59pc in June 2014, based on monthly operations data MISO released at an informational forum yesterday.

MISO is the second largest wholesale power market in the US. Its northern and midwest segments rely much more on coal than the Gulf coast region, where coal formed only 16pc of regional output in June.

Coal-fired power plants accounted for 71pc of generation in MISO's central region, similar to the share in June 2014 and up slightly from May 2015. Cleared load in that region, which includes Michigan, eastern Wisconsin and parts of Illinois, Missouri and Indiana, fell by 2.9pc year over year. Most of MISO's coal capacity is in that region.

Coal in June accounted for 59pc of generation in MISO's northern region, which includes Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and western Wisconsin.

Natural gas accounted for 57pc of generation in the four-state Gulf coast region, 13pc in the central region and 8pc in the north. Its systemwide share increased to 24pc from 17pc in June 2014.

MISO coal plants in June 2014 burned 20.5mn short tons (18.6mn metric tonnes), Energy Information Administration data show. About two-thirds of MISO fuel supply in calendar year 2014 came from Powder River basin mines. Another 20pc originated in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. North Dakota mines supplied 10pc.