Latest

Featured

Mining Operations Honored for Environmental Stewardship

February 03, 2015

Xinergy, Ltd.’s South Fork Coal Company Clearco Preparation Plant Receives Greenlands Award and Mingo Logan Coal Company’s Left Fork Surface Mine Claims National Wild Turkey Federation Award

CHARLESTON – Xinergy Ltd.’s South Fork Coal Company Clearco Preparation Plant in Greenbrier County claimed the state’s top award for environmental stewardship – the Greenlands Award – at the West Virginia Coal Association’s 42st Annual West Virginia Mining Symposium held January 28th-30th in Charleston.

Also during the Symposium, twelve other operations were recognized for their commitment to the environment as being some of the nation’s top operations.

Featured

West Virginia Coal Association Thanks Legislature for Quick Action on State's Cap-and-Trade: Expects Governor to Sign Bill

January 29, 2015

CHARLESTON -- The West Virginia Coal Association would like offer its thanks to the new leadership of the West Virginia Legislature for its quick action this week in rescinding HB103, otherwise what had become commonly referred to as the State's Cap-and-Trade Act.

"We are happy to see the quick action our new Legislature has taken," said WVCA President Bill Raney. "At a time when so many of our coal miners are out of work, we believe having a law in place that requires less usage of coal is simply unacceptable. And at a time when electric bills are going up 15-20 percent, money that is coming out of the pockets of the very families whose breadwinners are laid off from mining and support jobs, is incomprehensible.

Featured

Obama Ignores Reality in State of Union Speech

January 23, 2015

By Chris R. Hamilton, SVP
West Virginia Coal Association

Watching President Obama’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night, I found myself wanting to move to whatever country he was talking about – it sure wasn’t the United States.

Seriously, it was impossible to watch this speech without shaking your head at the options in front of you –President Obama paints a portrait of a nation with a “growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry and booming energy production” --- a nation “freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth.” What he neglects to say is that our economy by all good measures is stagnant at best. We have the highest number of people on government assistance than any time in history, our national debt has doubled and then some, and our industry and energy sectors are recovering not because of some policy of the Obama Administration but IN SPITE of the best efforts of his EPA to destroy them.

WV House of Delegates Committee Assignments

January 12, 2015

EDUCATION

1. Pasdon, Chair	17. Perry, Minority Chair
2. Duke, Vice Chair	18. Moye, Minority Vice Chair
3. Ambler	19. Campbell
4. Cooper	20. Hornbuckle
5. Ellington	21. Perdue
6. Espinosa	22. Pushkin
7. Evans, D.	23. Reynolds
8. Hamrick	24. Rodighiero
9. Kelly	25. Trecost
10. Kurcaba
11. Rohrbach
12. Romine
13. Rowan
14. Statler
15. Upson
16. Wagner

ENERGY

1. Ireland, Chair	17. Caputo, Minority Chair
2. Smith, R.,Vice Chair	18. Pethtel, Min. V. Chair
3. Ambler	19. Boggs
4. Anderson	20. Eldridge
5. Border-Sheppard	21. Lynch
6. Cadle	22. Miley
7. Canterbury	23. Phillips, L.
8. Evans, D.	24. Reynolds
9. Kessinger	25. White, H. K.
10. McCuskey
11. Nelson, J.
12. Romine
13. Statler
14. Storch
15. Upson
16. Zatezalo

FINANCE

1. Nelson, E., Chair	17. Boggs, Minority Chair
2. Ashley, Vice Chair	18. Williams, Min. V. Chair
3. Anderson	19. Bates
4. Butler	20. Guthrie
5. Canterbury	21. Longstreth
6. Espinosa	22. Moye
7. Evans, A.	23. Pethtel
8. Frich	24. White, H. K.
9. Gearheart
10. Hamilton
11. Householder
12. Miller
13. O’Neal
14. Storch
15. Walters
16. Westfall

GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION

1. Howell, Chair	17. Morgan, Minority Chair
2. Arvon, Vice Chair	18. Smith, P., Min. V. Chair
3. Blair	19. Caputo
4. Border-Sheppard	20. Eldridge
5. Cadle	21. Ferro
6. Faircloth	22. Hartman
7. Hamrick	23. Marcum
8. Hill	24. Phillips, R.
9. Ihle	25. Sponaugle
10. Kessinger
11. McGeehan
12. Moffatt
13. Nelson, J.
14. Smith, R.
15. Stansbury
16. Zatezalo


HEALTH AND HUMAN RESOURCES

1. Ellington, Chair	17. Fleischauer, Min. Chair
2. Householder, Vice Chair	18. Campbell, Min. V. Chair
3. Arvon	19. Bates
4. Ashley	20. Fluharty
5. Cooper	21. Guthrie
6. Faircloth	22. Moore
7. Hill	23. Pushkin
8. Kurcaba	24. Rodighiero
9. Lane	25. Skinner
10. Pasdon
11. Rohrbach
12. Sobonya
13. Stansbury
14. Summers
15. Waxman
16. Westfall

JUDICIARY

1. Shott, Chair	17. Manchin, Minority Chair
2. Lane, Vice Chair	18. Skinner, Min. V. Chair
3. Azinger	19. Byrd
4. Deem	20. Fleischauer
5. Fast	21. Fluharty
6. Folk	22. Hicks
7. Foster	23. Lynch
8. Hanshaw	24. Moore
9. Ireland	25. Rowe
10. McCuskey
11. Overington
12. Sobonya
13. Summers
14. Waxman
15. Weld
16. White, B.

AGRICULTURE and NATURAL RESOURCES

1. Evans, A., Ag. Chair	17. Eldridge, Ag., Min. Chair
2. Romine, Ag. Vice Chair	18. Phillips, L., Ag., MVC
3. Hamilton, NR, Chair	19. Lynch, NR, Min. Chair
4. Ambler, NR, Vice Chair	20. Guthrie, NR, MVC
5. Anderson	21. Campbell
6. Border-Sheppard	22. Fluharty
7. Cadle	23. Rodighiero
8. Canterbury	24. White, H. K.
9. Cooper	25. Williams
10. Folk
11. Ireland
12. Miller
13. Smith, R.
14. Summers
15. Wagner
16. Zatezalo

BANKING AND INSURANCE

1. Walters Chair, Banking	17. Moore, Banking, MC
2. Frich VC, Banking	18. Morgan, Banking, MVC
3. McCuskey Chair, Insurance	19. Skinner, Insurance, MC
4. Westfall VC, Insurance	20. Bates, Insurance, MVC
5. Ashley	21. Hicks
6. Azinger	22. Manchin
7. Deem	23. Perdue
8. Kurcaba	24. Perry
9. McGeehan	5. Rowe
10. Nelson, E.
11. O’Neal
12. Pasdon
13. Shott
14. Upson
15. Waxman
16. White, B.

INDUSTRY AND LABOR

1. Overington, Chair	17. Ferro, Minority Chair
2. Sobonya, Vice Chair	18. Fluharty, Min. V. Chair
3. Azinger	19. Byrd
4. Blair	20. Caputo
5. Cowles	21. Hicks
6. Ellington	22. Manchin
7. Fast	23. Pushkin
8. Householder	24. Reynolds
9. Ihle	25. Rowe
10. Kurcaba
11. McCuskey
12. Nelson, J.
13. Shott
14. Smith, R.
15. Statler
16. White, B.

INTERSTATE COOPERATION

1. Storch, Chair	6. Ferro
2. Faircloth, Vice Chair	7. Smith, P.
3. Ellington
4. Hamrick
5. Romine

PENSIONS AND RETIREMENT

1. Canterbury, Chair	6. Hicks
2. Folk, Vice Chair	7. Marcum
3. Hamilton	8. Pethtel
4. Kurcaba
5. Walters

POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS

1. Storch, Chair	17. Moye, Minority Chair
2. Butler, Vice Chair	18. Trecost, Min. V. Chair
3. Anderson	19. Boggs
4. Cowles	20. Byrd
5. Duke	21. Hartman
6. Folk	22. Hornbuckle
7. Gearheart	23. Manchin
8. Hanshaw	24. Morgan
9. Householder	25. Perry
10. Ihle
11. Lane
12. Moffatt
13. O’Neal
14. Sobonya
15. Stansbury
16. Weld

ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION

1. Gearheart, Chair	17. Phillips, L., Min. Chair
2. Hamrick, Vice Chair	18. Guthrie, Min. V. Chair
3. Ambler	19. Boggs
4. Arvon	20. Longstreth
5. Butler	21. Moye
6. Cadle	22. Reynolds
7. Espinosa	23. Smith, P.
8. Evans, A.	24. Sponaugle
9. Evans, D.	25. Trecost
10. Fast
11. Howell
12. Moffatt
13. Rohrbach
14. Statler
15. Summers
16. Wagner

LEGISLATIVE RULE-MAKING REVIEW

1. Sobonya, Chair	5. Fleischauer
2. Frich, Vice Chair	6. Rowe
3. Hanshaw
4. Moffatt

SENIOR CITIZEN ISSUES

1. Rowan, Chair	17. Williams, Minority Chair
2. Border-Sheppard, VC	18. Moye, Minority Vice Chair
3. Canterbury	19. Campbell
4. Deem	20. Ferro
5. Duke	21. Moore
6. Faircloth	22. Perry
7. Hamilton	23. Pethtel
8. Hill	24. Phillips, R.
9. Kelly	25. Rodighiero
10. Nelson, E.
11. Overington
12. Rohrbach
13. Romine
14. Walters
15. White, B.
16. Zatezalo

SMALL BUSINESS, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Miller, Chair	17. Skinner, Minority Chair
2. Espinosa, Vice Chair	18. Rowe, Minority Vice Chair
3. Ashley	19. Bates
4. Blair	20. Hornbuckle
5. Ellington	21. Manchin
6. Faircloth	22. Miley
7. Foster	23. Morgan
8. Hanshaw	24. White, H. K.
9. Hill	25. Williams
10. Kessinger
11. Lane
12. Pasdon
13. Stansbury
14. Storch
15. Waxman
16. Westfall

VETERANS AFFAIRS AND HOMELAND SECURITY

1. Nelson, J., Chair, VA	17. Longstreth, VA, MC
2. Cooper, VC, VA	18. Hornbuckle, VA, MVC
3. Evans, D., Chair, HS	19. Smith, P., HS, MC
4. McGeehan, VC, HS	20. Pushkin, HS, MVC
5. Arvon	21. Byrd
6. Ashley	22. Ferro
7. Foster	23. Fleischauer
8. Frich	24. Lynch
9. Howell	25. Trecost
10. Ireland
11. Kelly
12. Kessinger
13. Rowan
14. Upson
15. Wagner
16. Weld

Featured

Weekly Report on Coal Production & Prices (9 January 2015)

January 12, 2015

According to the latest report from the Energy Information Agency (EIA), coal production in the United States rose by 390,000 million tons for the week ending January 3, compared to the same time last year. Production for the week stood at 17.61 million tons compared to 17.22 million tons for the first week of January, 2014. For the 52-week period ending January 3, production was also up slightly, to 994.3 million tons from 982.1 million tons last year.

This increase was reflected in the number of rail car loadings, which saw an increase of 0.3% for the week over the same period last year. Rail car loadings were up 1.0% for the previous 52 weeks.

Metallurgical coal exports for the month of November (the most recent data available) dropped by 5.0% from a year ago to stand at 4.8 million tons. Steam coal, also continued its slide during the month of November, down 21.9% from a year ago to 2.7 million tons. Year-to-date through the end of November, both metallurgical and steam coal exports remain down compared to last year. Metallurgical coal is off 3.9% at 58.2 million tons while steam coal is off 32% at 31.8 million tons shipped.

Imports picked up in November – up 18% -- to 1 million tons. Coal imports for the previous 52 weeks remain up 32% to 10.8 million tons.

Electric output was also off - down 2.1% for the week ending January 3 - but is down slightly (also 2.1%) for the year. Steel output surged for the week - up 3.4 percent to 1.85 million tons - and continues to trend up slightly for the year at 93.7 million tons produced compared to 93.0 million tons last year.

Steel production finished the week up 3.9% from the same week a year ago, and is also up 3.9% for the previous 52 weeks.

Looking at regional coal production, Appalachian coal production was up slightly for the week – to 4.72 million tons from 4.69 million tons for the same week last year. Meanwhile, Interior Basin production was up slightly to 3.30 million tons from 3.27 million tons for the week last year. Western production was up slightly this week, to 9.58 million tons from 9.32 million tons for the first week of 2014.

Regional production for the three primary production basins for the previous 52 weeks ending January 3, however, reflected the longer term trends of reduced production in the Appalachia countered by increased production in the Interior and Western reserves. For the period, Appalachia production was down slightly by 0.4% to 269.70 million tons, off from 270.62 million tons in 2013. Interior Basin production was up for the period by 2.4%, to 186.0 from 182.61 million tons last year. Meanwhile, Western production was up 1.7%, to 537.66 million tons from 528.82 in 2013.

Citing “data quality issues” the EIA has decided not to report state-level estimates. We apologize for this and we will seek an alternate source of the information.

According to the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training, reported coal production for 2014 in West Virginia currently stands at 112.13 million tons, of which 84.50 million tons was produced underground and 27.64 million tons was produced via surface mining. There are currently 125 mines reporting production in the state. Direct mining employment currently stands at 18,257 miners, with 14,131 working primarily underground and another 4,126 working on surface operations in the state.

Coal prices on the spot market were mixed this week. Central Appalachian coal fell to $55.92 per ton, off from $56.10 last week. North Appalachian coal saw an increase in price to

$66.55 per ton, up from $65.30 per ton last week. Illinois Basin coal prices also saw an increase, at $45.70 per ton, up from $44.55 per ton a week ago. Likewise, Powder River Basin and Uinta Basin coal prices increased this week - at $12.10 and $38.30 per ton respectively.

Natural gas prices stopped their recent decline, remaining essentially steady on the Henry Hub at approximately $3.60 per million Btu. Natural gas producers reported significant declines in their stored reserves - off 64 billion cubic feet compared to last month.

Utilities reported that for the month of October, they held an average of 82 days worth of bituminous coal in stockpiles along with 50 days of sub-bituminous. This is significantly down from October 2013, down 10.1% and 18.4% respectively.