Total coal stockpile levels at U.S. electric power plants were 139 million tons in August 2011—the lowest total level for August since 2006. Bituminous coal stockpiles declined the most, down 27% since August 2009. Increases in the spot price of Central Appalachian coal as well as some supply disruptions in the late spring of 2011 contributed to declining stock levels.

Coal stockpile levels typically decline during summer months as power plants burn through stocks to meet seasonal peak electric demand for air conditioning load. Stockpile levels have been depressed throughout 2011 compared to 2009 and 2010 levels. According to average monthly data, the spot price of Central Appalachian coal (a key benchmark for the price of Eastern bituminous coal) was up 18% since August 2010. Flooding in April and May disrupted some coal deliveries, especially in the Southeast, and likely played a role in the declining stock levels going into the summer of 2011.

"Days of burn," another measure of the disposition of coal stocks, dipped under 60 days by mid-year 2011 for the first time since 2008. The average number of days of burn held at electric power plants is a forward-looking estimate of coal supply, given a power plant's current stockpile and past consumption patterns. Mostly for reliability reasons, plant operators maintain stockpiles within certain ranges even though supply disruptions in excess of 60 days are relatively unlikely. Days of burn held generally rose in 2009 as a result of the reduced electricity demand associated with lower economic activity.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Monthly Update

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - State general revenue collections again exceeded expectations last month, pushing the state's current surplus over $69 million just four months into the fiscal year.

The state collected $336.7 million in general revenue during October, about $25.6 million or 8 percent above budget expectations of $311.2 million for the month.

Since the fiscal year began on July 1, the state has taken in just under $1.4 billion in revenue, 5 percent more than the $1.33 billion the state had projected it would collect by this point.

That $1.4 billion represents a 6.5 percent growth rate over last year.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A strong overseas market for West Virginia coal continues to reap dividends for the state's government finances.

Tomblin administration officials credit coal exports for much of the economic health reflected in October's general revenue tax collections.

Last month's general revenues totaled nearly $337 million. That's $25 million more than expected.

Sales and personal income taxes beat their October estimates by a combined $10 million. These are key sources of general revenue, and are also signs of economic activity.

The state's main business taxes also brought in more than expected last month. So did taxes on coal and other extracted natural resources.

Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow says coal experts were up 42 percent for the calendar year as of August.

A scathing new expose on the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change -- which sets the world's agenda when it comes to the current state of the climate -- claims that its reports have often been written by graduate students with little or no experience in their field of study and whose efforts normally might be barely enough to satisfy grad school requirements.

Grad students often co-author scientific papers to help with the laborious task of writing. Such papers are rarely the cornerstone for trillions of dollars worth of government climate funding, however -- nor do they win Nobel Peace prizes.

By Rich Trzupek

Lisa Jackson still doesn’t get it. The EPA Administrator is stuck in 1970 and refuses to acknowledge the environmental and economic realities of 2011, as her rambling, misleading Op-Ed that ran in the L.A. Times last week so clearly demonstrates.
Jackson claims, for example, that House Republicans are conducting an "…assault on our environmental and public health protections will mean the difference between sickness and health — in some cases, life and death — for hundreds of thousands of citizens."
She refers here to the proposed "Boiler MACT" and "Utility MACT" (MACT stands for Maximum Achievable Control Technology) rules that the EPA is trying to ram down the nation’s throat at a time we can least afford such pristine luxuries. The fact is that the nation has made enormous progress in cleaning up the air over the last forty years and EPA’s claims that it’s vital to crank down on the thumbscrews in the industrial sector once again are both self-serving and highly dubious. Consider a few facts that Jackson failed to mention: