20Sep

What Happens When the Coal and Nuclear Plants Close?

Via The Houston Chronicle: When future policy makers go back and study the U.S. energy industry in the 2010s, one of the defining trends will be the sudden decline of coal and nuclear plants. Whether this is the beginning of a great new era of American energy or a disaster in the making is the […]
19Sep

Coal-fired Power Plants

Via The Bluefield Daily Telegraph: U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., has introduced a welcomed measure in the U.S. House of Representatives that could help in further boosting coal’s future. The legislation would allow a coal-burning power plant or related facility to retrofit or upgrade without meeting new environmental emission standards. Under the proposed measure, the plant or facility would […]
18Sep

An Argument Out of Touch with Today’s Coal Mining Industry

Via The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Sept. 10 Forum article “The War on Coal Communities: Strip Mining” is out of touch with today’s coal mining industry. Its author fails to acknowledge that the Surface Mining Reclamation and Control Act of 1977 is not a one-size-fits-all program. Each U.S. mine has detailed plans on how the mined […]
15Sep

Poll Shows Voters Want a Diverse U.S. Energy Grid

Eighty-five percent of American voters agree that the U.S. should act to protect the diversity of its energy grid to minimize potential impacts from natural disasters like the devastating hurricanes that have struck the U.S. and the Caribbean in the past several weeks, according to a new poll by Morning Consult for the National Mining […]
15Sep

Pennsylvania Coal Production Up by 20 Percent from 2016

Via Trib Live: Pennsylvania continues to mine about a fifth more coal this year than it did last year, according to the Energy Information Administration’s weekly coal production report. For the week that ended Sept. 9, the state’s bituminous coal production for the year was up 20.4 percent from the same period last year, maintaining the gain […]
14Sep

Mood Upbeat at Bluefield Coal Show

Via The Register-Herald: The 22nd biennial Bluefield Coal Show at the Brushfork Armory officially kicked off Wednesday morning, welcoming 195 exhibitors to the “coal show for coal people” and celebrating optimism amid a renewed growth in the market. “We have worked to make it a good show every year of the show,” said Charlie Peters, […]
13Sep

Quinn: ‘Coal is Rebounding’

Via The Bluefield Daily Telegraph: BLUEFIELD — The 22nd biennial Bluefield Coal Show at the Brushfork Armory officially kicked off with optimism this morning, welcoming 195 exhibitors to the “coal show for coal people” and to a renewed growth in the market. “We have worked to make it a good show every year of the […]
13Sep

EIA: Coal Production Increases Will Continue Through 2018

Via Utility Dive: Dive Brief: Coal production is up and will continue to rise through next year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest Short Term Energy Outlook. Coal production for August was the first month since October 2015 where production topped 70 million short tons (MMst). Dive Insight: EIA’s monthly outlook is a mixed […]
12Sep

Weathering the Storms

September 12, 2017 Nature has rudely interrupted a static Beltway debate about grid reliability and the need for baseload power. The series of powerful storms swept through sprawling cities and Caribbean villages, annihilating every structure in their path. For hundreds of thousands of people impoverished by nature’s fury is now added the lack of electricity. […]
11Sep

Forest Service Backs Expansion of Colorado Coal Mine

Via The Olympian: The U.S. Forest Service is backing the expansion of Colorado’s largest coal mine over the objections of environmentalists. The Daily Sentinel reports that Forest Supervisor Scott Armentrout announced Thursday that that the benefits of expanding the West Elk Mine near Somerset outweighed the potential environmental threat. The mine got initial consent to […]