Coal exports for the first quarter of 2017 were 58% higher than in the same quarter last year, with steam coal exports increasing by 6 million short tons (MMst) and metallurgical coal exports increasing by 2 MMst. Most of these exports were shipped from Atlantic Coast and Gulf of Mexico ports. In EIA’s most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA expects growth in coal exports to slow in the coming months, with total 2017 exports forecast at 72 MMst, 11 MMst (19%) higher than the 2016 level.
KING GEORGE, VA. (COAL AGE) —GE Power (NYSE: GE) today announced plans to convert its 242 MW coal-fired Birchwood Power facility in King George, Virginia, US into a Steam Plant Services Innovation Center.
The center, which provides sufficient electricity to power more than 240,000 homes, is to become a showcase for how the latest GE technologies can greatly increase the efficiency and flexibility of coal-fired steam power plants, while also reducing emissions.
A coal sector that has spent much of the past eight years criticizing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration welcomed an official with the Trump administration at an industry event May 4.
EPA Senior Policy Adviser Mandy Gunasekara said she came to the Eastern Fuel Buyers conference, hosted at the Disney Yacht Club in Orlando, Fla., to answer “eight years of questions” and gather information to take back to Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON, DC (March 28, 2017)– With the signing of an Executive Order, President Trump delivered on his pledge to help coal by lifting energy restrictions and canceling job-killing regulations. The remarks by President Trump and key members of his cabinet warmly acknowledged the contributions of our nation’s coal miners. They pledged to level the playing field and eliminate federal overreach.
President Trump called for an immediate re-evaluation of the “so-called” Clean Power Plan and a lifting of the ban on (federal) coal leasing.
By Lauren Blair
Craig (January 20, 2017) — The Collom expansion at Colowyo Coal Mine received final approval from federal officials, according to a press release from Tri-State Generation & Transmission, Inc.
The expansion adds 28 acres to current federal coal leases and will give the mine access to another 79 million tons of federal coal. In turn, it helps secure Colowyo’s 220 jobs for at least another two decades.
“Given the shortfalls that the county is facing, anytime we get news like this, it may only be a portion of the pie, but it’s a huge portion,” said Moffat County Commissioner and former Craig Mayor Ray Beck. “We know this won’t only impact our budget, but it will impact the local economy and local business.”
By JOHN SICILIANO
Washington Examiner (2/21/17)
President Trump is planning to issue executive orders this week to begin rolling back the centerpiece of President Obama‘s climate change agenda with several other regulations.
Trump is expected to soon issue the orders targeting regulations put into place by the Environmental Protection Agency, including the Clean Power Plan, which directs states to cut greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants.
The EPA climate plan was halted a year ago by the Supreme Court until the courts can rule on litigation by 28 state attorneys general, the coal industry and hundreds of individual companies and industry groups.
Heather Richards
Star-Tribune (Feb 13, 2017)
Sheridan County hasn’t experienced active coal mining since the last coal operation ceased in the 1980s, though it was once a booming coal community peppered with company towns.
That may soon change.
Cloud Peak Energy, which operates the Antelope and Cordero Rojo mines in Campbell County, recently applied for a federal permit to enhance roads and a rail spur between the non-operational Youngs Creek north of Ranchester and the bustling Spring Creek mine in Montana. The construction will facilitate the moving of equipment, coal and personnel between the two mines.
By SALENA ZITO
WAYNESBURG, Pa. — Two weeks after Derek Cisar’s wife gave birth to their son, the 36-year-old coal miner had to tell her he’d lost his job.
“It wasn’t because there wasn’t any work,” he said, moments after emerging from the underground mine. “Things in the industry in our area had started looking pretty stable for the past few months.
“It all came down to a ruling by a judge … with pressure from two climate-change groups. They effectively upended my life, my family’s life, and the lives of 202 other coal miners who were laid off because of his ruling.”
By KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL, NEW YORK — (Feb. 17, 2017)
Republican presidents tend to nominate one of two types of administrator to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. The first is the centrist—think Christie Todd Whitman (2001-03)—who might be equally at home in a Democratic administration. The other is the fierce conservative—think Anne Gorsuch (1981-83)—who views the agency in a hostile light.
Scott Pruitt, whom the Senate confirmed Friday, 52-46, doesn’t fit either mold. His focus is neither expanding nor reducing regulation. “There is no reason why EPA’s role should ebb or flow based on a particular administration, or a particular administrator,” he says. “Agencies exist to administer the law. Congress passes statutes, and those statutes are very clear on the job EPA has to do. We’re going to do that job.” You might call him an EPA originalist.
By JUDY HISLOP
WASHINGTON, DC (February 14, 2017) – The mix of fuels used to generate electricity in the United States has changed in response to differences in the expected cost of fuels and electricity-generating technology costs and their deployment, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
These factors, together with policies affecting emissions from power generation, will determine the generation fuel mix of the future.
Multiple cases in EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2017 (AEO2017) show how projected electricity generation is affected by fuel prices, especially natural gas prices, and the Clean Power Plan, a final Environmental Protection Agency rule issued in 2015 whose enforcement was stayed by the US Supreme Court in Feb. 2016 pending the resolution of legal challenges.
Daily News by Coal Age