US Department of Labor Unveils Updated Proposed Rule Designed to Protect Miners' Health From Silica Dust Exposures
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today unveiled a proposed rule to better protect the nation’s miners from health hazards associated with exposure to crystalline silica, also known as silica dust or quartz dust.
The proposed rule amends the 2024 Biden-era final rule by adding practical, commonsense, risk-based improvements to compliance requirements, exposure monitoring, medical surveillance, recordkeeping, and respiratory protection based on OSHA standards. The proposal retains the permissible exposure limit for respirable crystalline silica at or below 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air and action level at 25 micrograms.
Several developments after publication of the 2024 respirable crystalline silica final rule led to MSHA’s decision to develop a new proposed rule related to silica dust, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit’s stay of the compliance deadlines in the final rule. MSHA announced in an April 2026 program information bulletin that it would delay enforcement of the requirements in the 2024 final rule because of the stay, while continuing to enforce existing standards.
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Pennsylvania’s Keystone and Conemaugh Coal Plants Gain Path to Operate Beyond 2028
The Trump administration and state regulators have thrown a lifeline to the owners of two coal-fired power plants in Indiana and Armstrong counties.
A rollback of federal emissions regulations and a state consent decree will give the facilities more time to clean up plant pollution flowing into local waterways and billowing into the air.
The consent decree between Keystone-Conemaugh Projects LLC of Blairsville and the Department of Environmental Protection paved the way for the company to reverse its September 2021 decision to close its two 1,710-megawatt plants by December 2028. The Conemaugh Generating Station across the Conemaugh River from New Florence and the Keystone Generating Station, which straddles the Indiana-Armstrong border near Shelocta, were in danger of being shut down.
Conemaugh Generating Station
The decision was applauded by PJM, the regional transmission grid that manages the distribution of power for 13 states, including Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania has been a willing partner in addressing permitting reforms that will help all of these projects start contributing additional electricity to the grid, said Jeff Shields, a spokesman for PJM.
For America’s oil and natural gas industry, the implications could be far-reaching.
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EIA's Short-Term Energy Outlook - Electricity, Coal, and Renewables
We estimate that total electricity generation by the U.S. electric power sector will reach a record of almost 4,390 billion kilowatthours (BkWh) in 2026, up 2.7% from the previous record set last year. Rising electricity generation is driven by growing demand from the commercial sector and hot temperatures this past summer. We forecast that U.S. electricity generation will grow at a slightly slower rate of 1.2% in 2027 as continued increases in commercial and industrial sector electricity demand are offset somewhat by lower residential electricity demand resulting from forecast milder summer weather next year.
U.S. electric power sector net generation by source
Rising U.S. electricity generation is met primarily by increasing generation from renewable energy sources. We expect the share of total U.S. generation supplied by utility-scale solar plants will rise from 7% in 2025 to 8% in 2026 and nearly 10% in 2027. The forecast share of generation from wind rises from 11% in 2025 to 12% by 2027. Solar and wind generation are rising as a result of an expected 72 gigawatts and 20 gigawatts, respectively, of new capacity coming online this year and next.
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US Thermal Coal Exports Near Three-Year High
US thermal coal exports rose to their highest level in nearly three years in September, led by jumps in shipments to some countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
About 4.91mn short tons (4.46mn metric tonnes) of thermal coal and anthracite departed US ports during the month, up from 3.39mn st in the same period of 2025, preliminary data from the US Commerce Department showed Wednesday. The last time exports were higher was in October 2023, when they totaled 4.95mn st.
September was the seventh straight month that US steam coal exports topped year-earlier levels. For the third quarter overall, shipments climbed by more than 28pc on the year prior to 12.7mn st.
In both September and the third quarter overall exports to Asia accounted for significant proportions of the increases in US steam coal exports. During the month, 2.71mn st of US thermal coal was headed to Asia, up from 1.49mn st in September 2025.
US thermal coal exports to India and South Korea rose from a year earlier in September, more than offsetting decreased shipments to Japan and other countries in Asia. India, South Korea and Japan typically are the largest Asian destinations for US steam coal.
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US Congress Gets First Post-'Blue Wave' Crack at Data Centers With Permitting Bill
A sweeping bipartisan energy bill has unexpectedly emerged as the US Congress' first test of how to tackle public anger over data centers and rising electricity costs, which helped to power Democrats to a landslide election victory last week.
The legislation, years in the making and due to come before the Senate for debate on Monday, would speed approvals for new power plants and transmission lines, while requiring large data center operators to bear more of the cost of grid upgrades needed to serve them.
Data center expansion is putting electricity demand and the cost of power grid upgrades at the center of Congress’ permitting debate.
Supporters say the bill may be Congress' best near-term opportunity to address the costs of the AI infrastructure build-out. But some Democrats, who campaigned on promises to rein in data centers and whose party will control both houses of Congress next year, are skeptical of provisions they say could encourage even more construction.
The chances of passage for the bill, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, have fallen to 25% versus 40% before the election, according to investment firm TD Cowen.
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