Cloud Peak Energy Inc. Announces Results for First Quarter 2011

Cloud Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE:CLD), the third-largest U.S. coal producer
and the only pure-play Powder River Basin (PRB) coal company, today
announced results for the first quarter 2011.

2011 First Quarter Highlights

• 
  An 18 percent improvement in Adjusted EBITDA¹ to $82.6
  million compared with $70.1 million in the first quarter of 2010.
  
• 
  Cash flow from operations of $80.2 million.
  
• 
  Net income of $26.8 million resulting in Adjusted EPS¹ of
  $0.44 compared to $0.32 in the first quarter of 2010. Diluted EPS of
  $0.44 compared to $0.38 in the first quarter of 2010.
  
• 
  Asian export shipments were up approximately 12 percent to 887,000
  tons from first quarter of 2010 of 791,000 tons.
  

'We had a strong start to what we expect to be a good year for Cloud
Peak Energy. Our operations performed well with minimal weather
interruptions which are usually expected in the first quarter. This
allowed us to get slightly ahead of schedule on shipments and
production. Costs were well contained and realized prices rose from last
year as expected. Our first quarter Asian export tons were up 12 percent
over last year as demand from our customers continues to be strong,?
said Colin Marshall, President and Chief Executive Officer.

First Quarter 2011

Production from our three company-operated mines was 23.2 million tons,
up from 21.4 million tons in the first quarter of 2010 reflecting good
customer demand and minimal operational interruptions. Shipments in the
first quarter of 2010 were reduced by severe weather that impacted
shipments to mid-western customers.

Adjusted EBITDA rose 18 percent to $82.6 million, driven by volumes,
increased realized sales prices, and tight cost controls. Average
revenue per ton increased to $12.73. Average cost of product sold per
ton was $8.94, at the lower end of our guidance range, as ongoing
operational and maintenance improvements partially offset rising diesel
costs.

Health, Safety and Environment Record

For the first quarter of 2011, our 1,550 employees suffered one
reportable injury resulting in an MSHA All Injury Frequency Rate of
0.28, down from 0.58 for full year 2010. The three company operated
mines continued their strong performance of not receiving any notice of
environmental violations under the Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act (SMCRA) since October 2002.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

Cash flow from operations totaled $80.2 million for first quarter 2011.
Capital expenditures were $46.3 million.

Unrestricted cash on hand as of March 31, 2011 was $395.8 million. We
were able to reduce collateral requirements for our surety bonds and
released an additional $21.3 million of restricted cash during the
quarter. Consequently, restricted cash was reduced from $182.1 million
at December 31, 2010 to $160.8 million at March 31, 2011. Cloud Peak
Energy′s balance sheet is well positioned with total available liquidity
of $785 million as of March 31, 2011.

The company′s long-term debt as of March 31, 2011, net of original issue
discount, was $595.8 million. Federal coal lease obligations, including
the current portion, were $118.3 million, as of March 31, 2011.

Outlook

We are updating our guidance for 2011. Additional operating margin is
now expected to be $30 million to $50 million, versus $20 million to $35
million, as we have been able to take advantage of a strong export
market. We raised the lower end of our average cost of produced coal
from $8.80 per ton to $9.00 as a result of rising diesel prices;
nonetheless, the top end of the range is unchanged at $9.40 per ton.
Expected production from the three company-operated mines for 2011 is
unchanged at 93 million to 96 million tons and is essentially fully
sold, consistent with our sales strategy. Assuming constant prices of
$12.75 per ton for 8800 Btu quality coal and $11.00 per ton for 8400 Btu
quality coal on our indexed tons, the expected total realized price for
2011 would be approximately $12.95 per ton. For 2012, we have currently
contracted to sell 74 million tons from our three operated mines. Of
this committed 2012 production, 62 million tons are under fixed-price
contracts with a weighted-average price of $13.15 per ton.

Exports from the Spring Creek mine through the Westshore terminal in
Vancouver are expected to approximate three million tons this year,
driven by the strong demand from the company′s Asian utility customers.
Additional export sales are expected to be made through the Ridley
terminal in Prince Rupert, British Columbia with the first shipment
scheduled for May 2011. We are expecting total 2011 export shipments to
be around four million tons. As previously disclosed, exports through
the Ridley terminal will incur significantly higher rail costs than
through Westshore but do allow additional Asian customers to gain
experience burning Spring Creek coal.

Recently, the BLM announced sale dates for the West Antelope II LBA,
which Cloud Peak Energy had previously nominated. The LBA will be leased
in two tracts, the North tract which contains approximately 350 million
mineable tons, and the South tract which contains approximately 56
million mineable tons, according to BLM estimates. The BLM has scheduled
the bid openings for May 11^th and June 15^th for
the North and South tracts, respectively. On the day of bid opening, the
BLM will declare the highest bidder for the lease (if there is more than
one bidder) and later that day the BLM usually determines whether the
high bid met the BLM′s independent assessment of 'fair market value.? If
the high bid does not meet 'fair market value? the BLM will proceed to a
re-bid, which usually occurs within three to six months. As previously
disclosed, this LBA is subject to pending legal challenges filed by
certain environmental organizations against the BLM and the Secretary of
the Interior.

Marshall stated, 'We′ve had a sound start to this year. Our solid cash
generation provides us with the balance sheet strength we need to
consider new coal leases and pursue growth opportunities. Our
proportionally low long-term liabilities, both reclamation and employee
related, combined with the liquidity available under our revolving
credit facility, further enhance our financial strength.?

Updated Guidance ? 2011 Financial and Operational Estimates

The following table provides the company′s current outlook and
assumptions for selected 2011 financial and operational metrics:

Conference Call Details

A conference call with management is scheduled at 5:00 p.m. ET on May 4,
2011, to review the results and current business conditions. The call
will be web cast live over the Internet from the company′s Web site at www.cloudpeakenergy.com
under 'Investor Relations.? Participants should follow the instructions
provided on the Web site for downloading and installing the audio
applications necessary to join the web cast. Interested individuals also
can access the live conference call via telephone at 866-730-5770
(domestic) or 857-350-1594 (international) and entering pass code
39375061.

Following the live web cast, a replay will be available on the company′s
Web site for seven days. A telephonic replay will also be available
approximately two hours after the call and can be accessed by dialing
888-286-8010 (domestic) or 617-801-6888 (international) and entering
pass code 13519016. The telephonic replay will be available for seven
days.

About Cloud Peak Energy ^®

Cloud Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE:CLD) is headquartered in Wyoming and
is the third largest U.S. coal producer and the only pure-play Powder
River Basin (PRB) coal company. As one of the safest coal producers in
the nation, Cloud Peak Energy specializes in the production of low
sulfur, subbituminous coal. The company owns and operates three surface
coal mines in the PRB, the lowest cost major coal producing region in
the nation. The Antelope and Cordero Rojo mines are located in Wyoming
and the Spring Creek mine is located near Decker, Montana. With
approximately 1,500 employees, the company is widely recognized for its
exemplary performance in its safety and environmental programs. Cloud
Peak Energy is a sustainable fuel supplier for approximately 4 percent
of the nation′s electricity.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This release and our related presentation contain 'forward-looking
statements' within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are not statements of
historical facts and often contain words such as 'may,' 'will,'
'expect,' 'believe,' 'anticipate,' 'plan,' 'estimate,' 'seek,' 'could,'
'should,' 'intend,' 'potential,' or words of similar meaning.
Forward-looking statements are based on management's current
expectations or beliefs, as well as assumptions and estimates regarding
our company, industry, economic conditions, government regulations and
energy policies and other factors. Forward-looking statements may
include, for example, (1) our outlook for 2011 and future periods for
our company, PRB coal and the coal industry in general, and our 2011
operational and financial guidance; (2) anticipated improvements in
overall economic conditions and demand by domestic and foreign
utilities; (3) prices for natural gas and other alternative sources of
energy used to generate electricity; (4) coal stockpile levels and the
impacts on future demand; (5) our plans to replace and/or grow our coal
tons; (6) business development and growth initiatives; (7) operational
plans for our mines; (8) our cost management efforts; (9) industry
estimates of the EIA and other third party sources; (10) estimated Tax
Receivable Agreement liabilities; and (11) other statements regarding
our plans, strategies, prospects and expectations concerning our
business, operating results, financial condition and other matters that
do not relate strictly to historical facts. These statements are subject
to significant risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult
to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from
those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Factors
that could adversely affect our future results include, for example, (a)
future economic conditions; (b) demand for our coal by the domestic
electric generation industry, export demand and terminal capacity and
the price we receive for our coal; (c) reductions or deferrals of
purchases by major customers and our ability to renew sales contracts;
(d) environmental, health, safety, endangered species or other
legislation, regulations, court decisions or government actions, or
related third-party regulatory legal challenges, including any new
requirements affecting the use, demand or price for coal or imposing
additional costs, liabilities or restrictions on our mining operations;
(e) public perceptions, third-party regulatory legal challenges or
governmental actions and energy policies relating to concerns about
climate change, including emissions restrictions and governmental
subsidies that make wind, solar or other alternative fuel sources more
cost-effective and competitive with coal; (f) operational, geological,
equipment, permit, labor, weather-related and other risks inherent in
surface coal mining; (g) our ability to efficiently conduct our mining
operations, (h) transportation and export terminal availability,
performance and costs; (i) availability, timing of delivery and costs of
key supplies, capital equipment or commodities such as diesel fuel,
steel, explosives and tires; (j) our ability to acquire future coal tons
through the federal LBA process and necessary surface rights in a timely
and cost-effective manner and the impact of third-party regulatory legal
challenges, (k) access to capital and credit markets and availability
and costs of credit, surety bonds, letters of credit, and insurance; (l)
the impact of direct and indirect competition from coal producers and
competing sources of energy, domestically and internationally; (m)
litigation and other contingent liabilities; and (n) other risk factors
described from time to time in the reports and registration statements
we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission ('SEC'), including
those in Item 1A - Risk Factors in our most recent Form 10-K and any
updates thereto in our Forms 10-Q and current reports on Forms 8-K.
There may be other risks and uncertainties that are not currently known
to us or that we currently believe are not material. We make
forward-looking statements based on currently available information, and
we assume no obligation to, and expressly disclaim any obligation to,
update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements made in this
release or our related presentation, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This release and our related presentation include the non-GAAP financial
measures of (1) Adjusted EBITDA and (2) Adjusted Earnings Per Share
('Adjusted EPS'). Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS are intended to
provide additional information only and do not have any standard meaning
prescribed by generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S., or
GAAP. A quantitative reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA and
EPS (as defined below) to Adjusted EPS is found in the tables
accompanying this release.

EBITDA represents net income before (1) interest income (expense) net,
(2) income tax provision, (3) depreciation and depletion, (4)
amortization, and (5) accretion. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA as
further adjusted to exclude specifically identified items that
management believes do not directly reflect our core operations. The
specifically identified items are the income statement impacts, as
applicable, of: (1) the Tax Receivable Agreement and (2) our significant
broker contract that expired in the first quarter of 2010.

Adjusted EPS represents diluted earnings (loss) per share attributable
to controlling interest ('EPS'), adjusted to exclude the estimated per
share impact of the same specifically identified items used to calculate
Adjusted EBITDA and described above.

Adjusted EBITDA is an additional tool intended to assist our management
in comparing our performance on a consistent basis for purposes of
business decision-making by removing the impact of certain items that
management believes do not directly reflect our core operations.
Adjusted EBITDA is a metric intended to assist management in evaluating
operating performance, comparing performance across periods, planning
and forecasting future business operations and helping determine levels
of operating and capital investments. Period-to-period comparisons of
Adjusted EBITDA are intended to help our management identify and assess
additional trends potentially impacting our company that may not be
shown solely by period-to-period comparisons of net income. Adjusted
EBITDA is also used as part of our incentive compensation program for
our executive officers and others.

We believe Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS are also useful to
investors, analysts and other external users of our consolidated
financial statements in evaluating our operating performance from period
to period and comparing our performance to similar operating results of
other relevant companies. Adjusted EBITDA allows investors to measure a
company's operating performance without regard to items such as interest
expense, taxes, depreciation and depletion, amortization and accretion
and other specifically identified items that are not considered to
directly reflect our core operations. Similarly, we believe our use of
Adjusted EPS provides an appropriate measure to use in assessing our
performance across periods given that this measure provides an
adjustment for certain specifically identified significant items that
are not considered to directly reflect our core operations, the
magnitude of which may vary drastically from period to period and,
thereby, have a disproportionate effect on the earnings per share
reported for a given period.

Our management recognizes that using Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS as
performance measures has inherent limitations as compared to net income,
EPS or other GAAP financial measures, as these non-GAAP measures exclude
certain items, including items that are recurring in nature, which may
be meaningful to investors. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS should not
be considered in isolation and do not purport to be alternatives to net
income, EPS or other GAAP financial measures as a measure of our
operating performance. Because not all companies use identical
calculations, our presentations of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS may
not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies.
Moreover, our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA is different than EBITDA
as defined in our debt financing agreements.

Cloud Peak Energy Inc.

Karla Kimrey, 720-566-2900

Vice
President, Investor Relations