JUST A QUESTION OF GOVERNANCE:

But despite the early plant closure, and an unemployment rate that more than doubled overnight, Nucla had done enough to prepare. The town has leaned on tourism, driven by outdoor activities, and the recent opening of dozens of small businesses to survive.

"Initially we saw a lot of frustration and concern, mostly about selling homes and folks moving away," Sheriff said. But the town has adapted fairly well, she said: "We've diversified our economy enough that we're not going to die because one industry went away."

Increasingly outpaced by cheaper alternatives, including renewables, and under pressure from climate concerns, at least two dozen US coal power plants - many of them in small, rural communities - are expected to close or downsize in the next 10 years, as are most of the coalmines that supply them, according to the Environmental Protection Agency and experts. Most coal communities face the same challenges as Nucla: how to replace the jobs and tax dollars that have kept these towns afloat for decades?

In some cases, such as in Nucla, local officials started planning early. In others, the closures appear to have taken leaders by surprise.

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