20Mar

A “Very Scary” Situation in Texas

Texas got a taste of cooler than expected weather this week and it sent shockwaves across the state’s electricity market. The Lone Star State learned a valuable lesson about putting too much faith in intermittent renewables. Temperatures dipped Monday morning, increasing heating demand, and that cooler weather was accompanied by calmer than expected winds. Calm […]
20Mar

US Labor Secretary Tours North Antelope Rochelle Coal Mine

Via The Gillette News Record: U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta is in Wyoming to tour some of the Cowboy State’s largest industries, hosted by U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming. Monday morning, the pair took a tour of Peabody Energy Corp.’s North Antelope Rochelle coal mine south of Gillette. Enzi said after the tour that […]
19Mar

“The Surprisingly Sustainable Case for Coal”

Via The World Coal Association: Amid a fuel that is so often miscast as a Hollywood villain, I’d like to briefly lay out what I would call the surprisingly sustainable case for coal… with three key observations. First Observation: The story of global energy is not one of good versus evil.  It is a tale […]
18Mar

Coal’s Decline Could Mean More Power Shortages

Via The Washington Examiner: As the need for electricity to power the nation’s digital economy grows, coal is no longer playing a primary role, and that’s problematic, because it undergirds the electric grid and is the most reliable source of energy. Without coal plants that supply base-load power on demand, large parts of the United […]
15Mar

Perry Says He’s ‘Thrown a Lot of Jello at the Wall,’ on Coal, Nuclear Closures

Via The Houston Chronicle: Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Wednesday the Trump administration continues to look at steps to stop coal and nuclear power plants from closing. More than a year after Perry was shot down by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on a proposal to increase wholesale power rates for those plants, the former […]
14Mar

A Solution in Search of a Problem

It’s not uncommon to hear calls for rebuilding and transforming the electricity grid. In fact, renewable energy boosters say transforming the grid is an imperative if the nation is to reach their goal of 100 percent wind and solar power. But this call for transformation exposes some of the underlying problems with the proposed wind […]
12Mar

Alabama Coal Industry Posts Record in Met Coal Exports

Via The Birmingham Business Journal:  Alabama’s coal industry posted a gain in 2018. According to the Alabama Coal Association, the state exported 11 million short tons of metallurgical (met) or “coking coal” last year. Valued at $2 billion, the met coal was shipped through the Port of Mobile to steel manufacturers in Europe, South America […]
12Mar

Can Colorado Go Completely Green?

Via The Gazette: The clean energy movement got a big jumpstart recently with the unveiling of the “Green New Deal.” And even as critics took aim at the plan’s broad agenda and massive price tag, individual states started announcing similar goals. Colorado in particular has moved to the fore, thanks to Gov. Jared Polis’ goal […]
11Mar

Coal Miners Gather at Capitol to Celebrate Passage of Bills

Via West Virginia MetroNews Coal miners gathered outside the Senate chamber Saturday morning to celebrate passage of two bills aimed at boosting the state’s coal industry. One bill offers severance tax incentives for companies to expand production. The other offers a phased severance tax break to steam coal, which hasn’t rebounded as well as metallurgical […]
08Mar

Don’t Take Fuel Diversity for Granted

Via The Tribune-Democrat: As U.S. production of liquefied natural gas continues to surge, America is poised to become the world’s third largest LNG exporter, trailing only Australia and the Middle East state of Qatar. Already, huge benefits from LNG commerce are playing out around the world. Growth in LNG exports is reducing our nation’s trade […]