What is the heat content of U.S. coal?

In 2025, the annual average heat content of coal produced in the United States was about 20.383 million British thermal units (Btu) per short ton (2,000 pounds), and the annual average heat content of total coal consumed was about 19.167 million Btu per short ton.

Learn more:
Monthly Energy Review, Appendix A5: Coal and coal coke. This table contains the approximate average annual heat content of coal in million Btu per short ton.
Electric Power Annual, Table 7.3: Average quality of fossil fuel receipts for the electric power industry. This table contains the annual average heat content of coal received by the U.S. electric power industry in Btu per pound.
Form EIA-923 database. This database contains the heat content of coal delivered to U.S. power plants by the type (or rank: bituminous, subbituminous, lignite, anthracite, and waste coal) and source of the coal (by state and mine) in million Btu per short ton. In the database, see the file that includes Schedule 2, and in the file, see the worksheet Page 5 Fuel Receipts and Costs. In that worksheet, see the columns for Energy Source, Fuel Group, and Average Heat Content. The worksheet Page 7 File Layout has definitions for the abbreviations and codes for the data in the other worksheets of the file.
Energy Explained, Coal–Basics includes descriptions of types (ranks) of coal.