Coal dropping, wind rising among regional power generators

The region’s utilities made a dramatic shift from coal to wind power in the last year.

In the quarterly report from the Southwest Power Pool, a regional utility oversight board, the percentage of energy generated from coal fell from 57 percent in spring 2015 to 41 percent this spring.

Wind energy rose from 15 percent in the spring of 2015 to 22 percent of energy produced this spring.

The rest of the electricity comes from natural gas plants, hydro power and nuclear power.

The power pool covers all utilities in Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and parts of Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas and Missouri.

This story was originally published June 30, 2016 at 11:18 AM with the headline "Coal dropping, wind rising among regional power generators."