The commission said April 28 that production was 43,633,881 tons from 2,651.7 mined acres, up 2.8% or 1,184,287 tons. Mined acreage was also up 5.9%, or 146.6 acres, from the prior year.
Agency officials reported $2.86 million in fee revenue over the calendar year from the active mines in the state.
Chairman Christi Craddick called coal a vital aspect of the nation’s “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. “Of the total 43.6 million tons of coal produced in 2014, 99 percent was used to keep the lights on for Texans,” she added.
Seventeen of 29 mines permitted by the Railroad Commission produced coal in 2014, and four of these mines began production for the first time in 2014.
The commission’s complete report is available for review at http://www.rrc.texas.gov/media/28176/coalprodthru2014.pdf.
