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Seth Feaster
Public Risk in Alaska, Colorado, Missouri, North Dakota, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming
A report that came out last month from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office recommends that Congress eliminate the risky system of self-bonding by coal-mining companies. But the report also raises concerns about the financial stability of surety-bond companies, a much more common form of reclamation bonding, as well as problems with underfunding for mine cleanup costs. […]
IEEFA
WVNews: Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) are pushing legislation that would give tax breaks to help keep coal-fired power plants in operation. On Monday, Capito introduced the Electricity Reliability and Fuel Security Act, which would provide a temporary tax credit for existing coal-fired power plants to help cover a portion […]
IEEFA
S&P Global Market Intelligence: Murray Energy Corp. “currently has no plans to file for bankruptcy protection,” despite a warning issued to government officials in 2017 that the coal producer would be forced to follow if one of its largest customers sought a court-supervised restructuring. That possibility became reality March 31. In 2017, Murray Energy supplied […]
Cathy Kunkel
Negligence on the Part of FirstEnergy and the State to Encourage Responsible Transition
As FirstEnergy prepares to either sell the Pleasants Power Station in West Virginia or deactivate it, the question now becomes whether the company and the state will come up with a good plan to help the local community through this transition. FirstEnergy’s decision on Pleasants comes after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected its proposal […]
Cathy Kunkel
FirstEnergy Throws in the Towel on Its Latest Play in West Virginia
It’s to the benefit of ratepayers that FirstEnergy this week announced that it will drop its scheme to transfer the Pleasants Power Station from deregulated subsidiary Allegheny Energy Supply to West Virginia regulated subsidiaries Mon Power and Potomac Edison. The move would have shielded the coal-fired Pleasants plant from market competition, forcing West Virginia ratepayers […]
Guest commentary: Eric Schaeffer
Murray Energy Checklist Included Rolling Back Clean Power Plan, Changing Science Findings, Rewriting Tax Code to Disadvantage Renewables
For the first time last week, Bob Murray, the outspoken CEO of Murray Energy Corp., publicly discussed his company’s recently publicized wish list for actions that the federal government could take to support the coal industry. Murray’s “Action Plan for the Administration of Donald J. Trump,” a once-secret document written almost a year ago, was released earlier […]
Cathy Kunkel
More Bad News for an Out-of-Step Electricity Company Struggling to Stave Off Bankruptcy
By rejecting a bailout maneuver last week in West Virginia by Ohio-based FirstEnergy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week ended up protecting Mon Power and Potomac Edison customers from incurring hundreds of millions of dollars of unnecessary costs over the next 15 years. FirstEnergy’s scheme would have transferred the Pleasants Power Station, which is […]
IEEFA
West Virginia Gazette Mail: As Mon Power and Potomac Edison await approval to buy a Pleasants County power plant, an analysis backed by opposition parties says manufacturers, schools and hospitals in West Virginia will have to pay about $230 million more on their utility bills over 15 years if the deal goes through. Technical consultant […]
IEEFA
Exponent Telegram (Clarksburg): A mine in Marion County has idled almost all its workers. Enough workers are on hand at the Federal No. 2 mine to prevent the mine from flooding and to keep it ready to reopen, but “it’s a minimal, skeletal crew,” said Phil Smith, communications director for the United Mine Workers of […]
IEEFA
Charleston Gazette-Mail: There’s an old saying that goes, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” The West Virginia Public Service Commission will soon make a decision that reveals whether it has learned that lesson. If not, hardworking West Virginians are in danger of footing the bill. At issue is FirstEnergy’s […]
IEEFA Research Brief: Coal in Decline, Blow by Blow
Plant Closings and the Likely Effects on Specific Companies and MinesWe’ve published a research brief today that presents an expansive snapshot of a moving target: the decline in U.S. coal-fired generation nationally. As global energy markets continue to undergo rapid transformation, change has swept the U.S. as well. Our brief—“U.S. Coal Phase-out, Blow by Blow: Plant Closings and the Likely Corresponding Effect on Specific Companies […]