Data from the US Energy Information Administration shows total natural gas-fired electric generation in April surpassed coal-fired power generation, as the fossil fuel war between gas and coal continues.

The EIA report showed that 92,516 gigawatt hours was produced in April using gas compared to 88,835GWh that was produced using coal.

This means that natural gas drove 31% of all electric-power generation in April, up from 22% in April 2010.

At the same time, the share of power coming from coal has fallen from 44% in April 2010 to 30% this past April as older, dirtier coal plans were shut down to comply with new environmental regulations.

Coal has now generated less energy in the US than at any point in the past decade, although gas generation has been higher, peaking at 138,863GWh was produced in July 2012, a target spurred on by low gas prices and winter demand.

While last month the US Supreme Court on June 29 sent the new clean air regulations back to the US District Court for reconsideration, the industry has already seen a large wave of coal plant retirements ahead of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards laws’ effective date of April 15.

Some 17GW of coal-fired capacity, 1.6% of the total US generative capacity, was expected to be retired this year, with 4.1GW already gone by May, albeit mostly smaller, under-used units.

Overall the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030, is predicted to take some 90GW of coal-fired production offline, half of that under the MATS.

Overall, the EIA said it expects coal's share of US total generation will average 35.6% in 2015, down from 38.7% in 2014.