State and National Leaders to Headline 50th Annual West Virginia Mining Symposium March 26-27

Featuring local, state, and federal officials as well as industry experts, the West Virginia Coal Association will host the 50th Annual West Virginia Mining Symposium March 26-27 at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center in Charleston, West Virginia. 

Chris Hamilton, President and Chief Executive Officer of the West Virginia Coal Association, said, “The Symposium draws wide participation from all sectors of the mining industry and provides an opportunity for the industry to discuss current domestic and international marketing and production trends, while showcasing new mining and mine safety technologies.”

West Virginia Coal Hall of Fame Inducts 26th Class of Honorees

 The West Virginia Coal Hall of Fame, a joint initiative between the West Virginia Coal Mining Institute and the West Virginia Coal Association and housed at the WVU Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources in Morgantown, will induct its newest class of honorees at a ceremony March 26, at the Charleston Coliseum and Conference Center in Charleston WV

This year’s honorees include Walt Scheller, CEO Warrior Met, Nick Carter, Retired President/CEO, Natural Resource Partners, Doug Conaway, Senior Vice President of Safety, ARCH Resources Inc., and Todd Moore, Vice President of Safety, Consol Energy.

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Coal-fired Electric Generation Offers Low-Cost, Reliable Power to West Virginia

By: Chris Hamilton President & CEO
West Virginia Coal Association

Recent news stories across the state have reported on a tentative agreement advanced by several parties to a typical public electric utility rate case, whereby the utility petitions the Public Service Commission to recover partial costs the utility incurred to keep West Virginia’s lights on. Some suggest that the agreement and others like it are not in the best interest of the public.

West Virginia has always enjoyed extremely low-cost and reliable energy primarily due to our modem coal-fired electric manufacturing facilities and nearby high quality, clean burning coal reserves. It’s been our natural advantage and continues to be the best deal around as evidenced by all the new investment by large industrial power consumers (e.g., Nucor, Omnis Energy, Fidelis New Energy, and many others) that chose West Virginia for our competitive costs of energy and other reasons.

OP ED: Energy Transition Promises Largely Unfulfilled

By: Chris Hamilton
President & CEO West Virginia Coal Association

In a November 29 column, MetroNews Talkline Host Hoppy Kercheval highlights new research that shows that “the idea that a laid off roof bolter can get a new job making solar panels or installing wind turbines is largely an unfulfilled promise”.

He’s referring to the promises made by the Biden Administration, liberal leaders, and environmental extremists that workers in carbon intensive industries can find work in the Green Energy fields of wind and solar. According to the research, “the transition rate is even lower in our state. The New York Times reported that the study showed that ‘Less than a quarter of a percent of workers who left a fossil fuel job in West Virginia moved on to a job in renewable energy’.”