About US
Our mission is to provide effective leadership for the coal industry, ultimately enhancing the ability of the Kentucky coal industry to compete in domestic and world coal markets. Our membership represents both Eastern and Western Kentucky operations that mine coal through surface and underground methods. This diversity helps us build a consensus approach in problem solving and proactively works to resolve the complex issues facing the coal industry.
Latest News
Kentucky Coal Association Announces New President/Executive Director
The Kentucky Coal Association has selected Sam McKown as its new president and executive director. “I am excited to build on and continue the vital mission of the Kentucky Coal Association,” said McKown. “A cornerstone industry of the Commonwealth, coal not only powers Kentucky, but it supports thousands of jobs from one end of our […]
Happy Thanksgiving!
The staff of the Kentucky Coal Association wishes each and every one of you a happy holiday season filled with love, laughter, and family. Happy Thanksgiving!
Lies, Damn Lies, and the Sierra Club
“The Sierra Club lives in some weird Orwellian world where up is down and left is right, where “reality” is whatever they decide it to be. Fortunately, most people don’t live in that world. We live in a world bounded by objective reality — a world where people need reliable energy, not fairy dust and […]
Free public viewing today, 2–8pm, UPIKE HPE Building. #KentuckyCoal #coalheritage #STEMEducationA coal seam is an ancient forest pressed into stone — layer on layer of Eastern Kentucky, built up over millions of years into the black band at the center of the region's story. It is the subject K–12 students have spent all week exploring at the 2026 CEDAR Regional Coal Fair.
The fair opens to the public one final time today, Thursday, May 21, from 2:00 to 8:00 PM on the 7th-floor pavilion at the University of Pikeville. Admission is free.
207 projects fill the hall — students from six Eastern Kentucky school districts and three private academies, working on the science of coal and reclamation, its history, and the future of the communities it built, across seven subject areas.
Come spend an hour and see what the next generation of Eastern Kentucky is working on.
UPIKE HPE Building · 7th Floor Pavilion (Kentucky College of Optometry)
#CEDARCoalFair #EasternKentucky #AppalachianStudents #CoalHeritage #FriendsOfCoal #KentuckyCoal #UPIKE #PikevilleKY #STEMEducation #K12Education ... See MoreSee Less
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American Action Forum analysis confirms AI data-center load is reshaping U.S. capacity planning. Planned non-renewable generation additions surged 71% from 2025 to 2026, while renewable additions grew just 2%. Natural gas interconnection costs averaged $24/kW from 2017–2022 against $253/kW for solar. Coal anchors the dispatchable baseload these workloads require. #kycoal #GridReliability ... See MoreSee Less
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🌲 The 2026 CEDAR Regional Coal Fair continues through Thursday at the University of Pikeville — 207 K–12 projects, across seven subject areas. Free public viewing 2–8pm. #KentuckyCoal #coalheritage #STEMEducation🌲 Day two of public viewing is underway at the 2026 CEDAR Regional Coal Fair. The evergreen in CEDAR’s name is the Eastern Red Cedar — native to these mountains, green through every winter, and a fitting emblem for a fair where students show what they have built.
The fair is open again today, Wednesday, May 20, and once more tomorrow, Thursday, May 21, on the 7th-floor pavilion at the University of Pikeville. Public viewing runs 2:00 to 8:00 PM each day, and admission is free.
207 projects from K–12 students across six Eastern Kentucky school districts and three private academies remain on display, spanning science, mathematics, English and literature, art, music, technology and multimedia, and social studies.
Come see their work.
UPIKE HPE Building · 7th Floor Pavilion (Kentucky College of Optometry)
#CEDARCoalFair #EasternKentucky #AppalachianStudents #CoalHeritage #FriendsOfCoal #KentuckyCoal #UPIKE #PikevilleKY #STEMEducation #K12Education ... See MoreSee Less
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