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West Virginia’s coal industry is currently being hit by a “perfect storm” of regulatory and market factors and the result has been a sharp drop in production – in both the southern and northern coalfields.
According to the EIA’s latest weekly report, while coal production nationwide has slipped just 0.3 percent and West Virginia has seen a drop of just 0.5 percent for the year ending 2/12/12, the more recent trends have shown a steep drop in production – down 2.4 percent nationwide for the year-to-date. In West Virginia, meanwhile, year-to-date production is off 7.2 percent from the same period in 2011 – to just 15.4 tons compared to 16.6 million tons last year.
This sharp decrease is fueled by both a drop in demand as the nation’s utilities work through stockpiles of coal left from a mild winter and decreased demand for met coal because of the economic uncertainties around the world, as well as regulatory uncertainty caused by the Obama EPA’s on-going assault on coal.
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This week, FirstEnergy announced the closing of three coal-fired power plants because of the EPA’s new tougher air pollution standards. The power stations at Albright in Preston County, Rivesville in Marion County and Willow Island in Pleasants County are shutting down, putting over 100 people out of work.
FirstEnergy said it would cost too much to update these plants with the pollution control equipment necessary to meet EPA’s rules. These are old facilities and their days were numbered, but the EPA’s new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) hastened their demise.
The closings are a tough blow for those communities; jobs are lost and tax revenue from the utilities will dry up.
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GOLF COURSE COURTESY OF TECO COAL CORPORATION
LOCATION: Raven Rock Golf Course
US Route 23, Jenkins, Kentucky
DATE: Tues. April 10, 2012
TIME: 10:30–Registration
11:15 - Lunch
12:00 (NOON) SHOTGUN START
FORMAT: 4-Person Scramble
ENTRY FEE: $75/Person; $300/Team
(Includes: Lunch, Golf, Cart, Drinks, Prizes)
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MAKE CHECK PAYABLE TO: CEDAR, INC.
Mail Completed Form(s) & Check to: P. O. Box 2152, Pikeville, KY 41502
GOLF REGISTRATIONS & HOLE SPONSORSHIPS ARE DUE BY ***MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2012***
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The Friends of Coal completed work on two new radio spots since the last Coal Bits – one focused on the Coal Symposium and another “Welcome Home” spot for our recently returned National Guard units, recognizing their service during the first period in which all units have been home from deployment since the War on Terror began almost 11 years ago.
Listen for them on your local radio station.
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