CEO of U.S. Coal Giant Peabody Energy to Step Down

(Bloomberg) -- Peabody Energy Corp. Chief Executive Officer Glenn Kellow, who led the nation’s largest coal producer through an era of diminishing prospects for the fossil fuel, will step down by Aug. 31 once the company’s board identifies a successor.

Kellow, who was named CEO in 2015, will continue to serve as a consultant to Peabody for 12 months after he leaves, at a rate of $85,000 per month, according to a Peabody filing with federal regulators Thursday.

Peabody has struggled to maintain profits as cheap natural gas and rising renewable power undercut coal’s once dominant position in the U.S. electricity mix. Peabody tumbled into bankruptcy in 2016 and exited a year later, but its finances have remained strained as coal’s prospects dim.

(Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, has committed $500 million to launch Beyond Carbon, a campaign aimed at closing the remaining coal-powered plants in the U.S. by 2030.)

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