I suspect you're giving them too big a benefit of a doubt. It's equally likely that the coal company's owners have decided they've milked the cow for as much as

I suspect you're giving them too big a benefit of a doubt. It's equally likely that the coal company's owners have decided they've milked the cow for as much as they could and can now shut it down before liabilities (clean-up costs + retirements) catch up with them.