Before You Bet On Coal Stocks Rebounding . . .

It's no secret that the U.S. is abandoning coal in a big way: Over the next decade, U.S. power companies have formalized plans to permanently retire nearly 28,000 megawatts (MW) of coal-fired generating capacity.

According to a report from SNL Financial, by 2015, U.S. power plants will have to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 'Mercury and Air Toxics Standards' which sets limits on plant emissions.

Coal-fired power plants – the biggest source of U.S. electricity generation – are hit particularly hard by these standards. As a result, companies have been gradually retiring non-EPA-compliant plants, with the biggest spike in closures expected between 2014 and 2016.

Surprisingly, the pace of retirements has slowed in 2013 compared with 2012 when 8,800 MW of coal capacity was permanently shuttered.

This year's, the US will forsake just under 6,000 MW of coal power – 34% less than the previous year.

(YCharts note: Coal producers Peabody Energy (BTU), Arch Coal (ACI), James River Coal (JRCC), Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) and others are hoping, of course, that natural gas prices will rise and help make coal more competitive again. That certainly could happen, but less likely is the prospect of coal-fired power plans, once decommissioned, being re-started. To capture the scope of coal plant closures planned, click through to the map of coal plants closing at MINING.com.)

Henry Hub Natural Gas Spot Price data by YCharts

Here are the biggest U.S. coal-fired power plant closures of 2013, grouped by company and based on data compiled by SNL Financial.

1 – FirstEnergy Corp

FirstEnergy Corp (FE) retired the largest amount of coal power in 2013 in terms of megawatts. By closing its Hatfield's Ferry Power Station and Mitchell Power Station in Courtney, Pennsylvania, the company took nearly 2,000 MW of coal out of the U.S. power mix. In total, about 380 employees were affected, according to a FirstEnergy news release. The company decided to shutter the plants because the cost of EPA-compliance was too high.

2 – Duke Energy

Duke Energy (DUK) – the largest electric power holding company in the U.S. – shut down three coal units in North Carolina this year, totaling 1,342 MW. Among the closures was Duke's first large-scale power plant, the 256-megawatt Buck Steam Station in Rowan County, which began operating in 1926.

3 – Southern Company

Through its subsidiary Georgia Power, Southern Company (SO) shuttered two units of its Harllee Branch power plant as Georgia Power shifts toward nuclear power, 21st-century coal technology, natural gas and renewable energy. Combined, the units produced about 500 MW.

Ana Komnenic, a contributing editor at YCharts, is an editor at MINING.com. She can be reached at editor@ycharts.com. Read the RIABiz profile of YCharts. You can also request a demonstration of YCharts Platinum.