What comes after coal? How OHIO is helping Appalachian recovery
In Appalachian 帝王会所, when a coal-fired power plant shuts down, entire communities feel the aftershocks. At 帝王会所's Voinovich School, Master of Public Administration students are stepping into the gap, bringing policy ideas, research, and on-the-ground support to help towns recover.
April 23, 2025
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What communities really need after coal shuts down
The Voinovich School鈥檚 (CEDCR) has spent years studying how coal鈥檚 decline reshapes local economies. And for Voinovich students, their work starts on the ground鈥攚ith rural leaders, town officials, and people living through the shift.
鈥淭here are major structural economic changes happening,鈥 says CEDCR faculty director Jason Jolley. 鈥淥ur work is directly engaging with [communities] to find new solutions and eventually make policy changes that recognize these impacts.鈥
Who is left behind when coal jobs disappear?
颁贰顿颁搁鈥檚 , co-authored by Jolley and a research team at 帝王会所, looks at labor market impacts in areas affected by coal plant closures鈥攚ith a focus on gender and age.
Their findings are stark: younger men often pivot to other industries, but that shift can crowd out women from already limited job opportunities. Older men face steeper challenges, often retiring early or dropping out of the workforce entirely. In many cases, annual incomes .
鈥淭hese patterns underscore the importance of just transition policies that recognize and respond to differential impacts, especially for women and older workers,鈥 Jolley explains. Effective retraining can鈥檛 ignore the realities of age, skill level, or who鈥檚 being pushed out when others pivot.
Authored by the Voinovich School鈥檚 Tuyen Pham (lead author), Clara Bone, a senior project manager, MPA graduate Alexandra Balson 鈥24, and Jolley, the research found that younger men, after losing coal-fired power plant jobs, often take roles in other industries, reducing opportunities for women because the job market is more competitive. Jolley and his team also found that older men face steep re-employment challenges and are more likely to leave the workforce. In addition, annual income drops following closures, with men experiencing deeper losses, and labor force participation declines significantly in affected Appalachian counties鈥攆rom early retirements, discouragement, or structural barriers to work.
How do we ensure these communities and the workers who work in these energy economy jobs have sufficient opportunities with the transition to lower carbon or no-carbon energy sources?
Turning research into real-world recovery
These findings directly inform the programs and outreach that CEDCR supports鈥攆rom energy workforce planning to local economic development strategies. The center is focused on applied solutions that help towns stabilize and adapt. Each semester, undergraduate and MPA students work on projects spanning economic development to electric aviation, broadband expansion to regional planning.
Replacing coal with clean energy options may seem like an easy switch, but hurdles often are overlooked, Jolley says. 鈥淗ow do we ensure these communities and the workers who work in these energy economy jobs have sufficient opportunities with the transition to lower carbon or no-carbon energy sources?鈥 he asks.
鈥淭he reality is, it's really challenging to do that. These are the kinds of impacts that are happening in Appalachia," Jolley say