Most coal plants in New York are either idle, converted to natural gas / biomass, retired or in the process of being demolished. In Rochester - Russell station will be demolished soon. Beebee Station is in the process of demolition. Retired plants are too costly to bring back online and would face fierce opposition by the state, EPA, tree huggers, etc... They're still standing because it's cheaper to keep them mothballed than to pay for expensive environmental remediation.
Current operating coal plant statuses... for the most part - Kodak is the only continuously operating plant, but will go natural gas soon. 2 are peak demand plants, 3 are idle, and only one is only firing natural gas at peak demand. The future for coal in NY is looking very bleak.
* Cayuga - peak demand plant -
http://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/bro ... plant/2535" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
* Danskammer - only burning natural gas during peak demand, no coal since 10/2012 -
http://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/bro ... plant/2480" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
* Dunkirk - idled end of 2015 - future status unknown -
http://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/bro ... plant/2554" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
* Greenridge (Dresden) - idle since March 2011 - future plans call for biomass and natural gas -
http://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/bro ... plant/2527" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
* Huntley - idle, to be retired 3/2016 -
http://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/bro ... plant/2549" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
* Kodak Park - active, to be converted to natural gas in near future -
http://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/bro ... lant/10025" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
* Somerset - peak demand plant -
http://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/bro ... plant/6082" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Natural gas is certainly enjoying a boom period now and it's hurting the bottom line for other forms of power production - especially coal and nuclear (Ginna and Fitzpatrick will likely be shut down in 2017). Add in all of the tax incentives for renewables (solar, wind, etc...) and that drives the wholesale electricity prices down even further. There's also oil fired generators - but those are mostly used as reserve or "peaker" plants that are fired up only when needed. When was the last time a unit oil tank train ran up to Oswego? Been 20 years.