Reuters quoted Genscape said US coal consumption rose 4% in the past week, as warmer weather and nuclear plant outages raised demand for coal-fired power.

The power industry data monitor said use of coal for the week ended Thursday fell 9% from the same week in 2010. Natural gas prices are lower than the same week last year.

In the populous East including the coal-dependent Midwest and Southeast, coal use rose 4% from the previous week but was 10% less than the same week last year.

In the less populous West which was cooler and has fewer coal-fired power plants, coal use was up 8%WoW and up 1%YoY.

WSI Corp weather service said In the East, including the coal-dependent Atlantic Coast and South weather was intermittently hot. That fed a rise in power demand for air conditioning.

Lower natural gas prices than the same time last year have boosted the use of gas-fired generation rather than coal-fired power plants.

(Sourced from Reuters)