Consultant: Central Appalachian coal outlook poor

Alan Stagg, one of the most respected consultants in the coal industry, told a major industry gathering last month that Central Appalachian coal mining would last at least 10 to 20 more years, but will continue to decline because the job-hungry region's coal is getting more difficult to mine, mainly because of geological limitations but also because of regulations.

"It's going to run out some day — there's a finite amount of coal — but I don't see that happening in 10 or 20 years," Stagg told Pam Kasey of The State Journal, a business-oriented weekly in West Virginia. Stagg, the president and CEO of Stagg Resource Consultants Inc., has been pessimstic about the industry's long-term prospects for several years, as we reported here, but this is his gloomiest forecast yet.

"This is the elephant in the room. No one wants to acknowledge that reserve depletion is profound," Stagg, of Cross Lanes, W.Va., said at Platt's Coal Marketing Days in Pittsburgh on Sept. 21, according to SNL Financial. "Mining conditions are difficult, and the cost to produce is high. That is a physical fact. It's not pleasant. Nobody wants to acknowledge it. That is a fact, and companies that ignore that fact will not do so well. . . . And by nature, regulations will always increase."

"Stagg cast such a pall on the Central Appalachia coal industry that West Virginia Coal Association President Bill Raney, speaking later in the day, said he felt like a 'funeral director'," Darren Epps wrote for SNL. "Stagg expressed optimism, however, for the Powder River Basin" in Wyoming, which overtook West Virginia as the leading coal-producing state many years ago.


An earlier version of this story was based on a report from SNL Financial that Stagg says misquoted him as saying that he expects coal mining in Central Appalachia to end in the next 10 to 20 years. He did not dispute the rest of the report.

Coal ash regulation will depend on who gets elected

Despite much controversy coal ash, Congress isn't likely to move on new regulations until after the election, and then action will depend on the priorities of the party controlling the White House, Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post reports. The U.S.'s 431 coal-fired power plants produce 140 million tons of ash a year. About 60 percent is stored in landfills, ponds and mines, and evidence suggesting leaks are a problem had been growing. The issue is rural because that's where plants and disposal areas are located. (Photo by Nancy Pierce of The Clog: coal ash pond near Mountain Island Lake, N.C.)

The Environmental Protection Agency gave 45 ponds at 27 locations a "high hazard potential" rating, meaning that if they break or leak, it would likely result in loss of life. Environmental groups in the last month have sued operators of 14 power plants in North Carolina and four in Illinois over coal-ash contamination, and ash-contaminated water at 197 sites in 37 states, according to Earthjustice.

President Obama and Mitt Romney have touted their love of the coal industry, and the idea of coal ash as a hazardous waste creates controversy. Obama's EPA moved toward regulating more strictly, then backed off. If it is officially labeled hazardous, EPA will have direct control over it and new handling procedures on utilities will be implemented, something that would increase utilities' costs. The EPA and environmentalists say new regulations will encourage more utilities to recycle coal ash into concrete and other products, but recycling companies and mining industry officials say this will be less likely if it's labeled as hazardous. (Read more)

Proposed monster wind farm in Wyoming, which could power 1 million homes, gets federal approval

Potentially the largest wind farm in the U.S. was approved this week. Wyoming's Chokeberry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project could eventually provide electricity to 1 million homes, said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, when as many as 1,000 turbines are up and running. The project is set to begin groundwork next year. The Associated Press reports that turbines could go up over a three-year period within an area covering 350 square miles south of Rawlins in south-central Wyoming. Most of that area is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. (Photo: Site of the future wind farm)

The officials in Carbon County, where the project is based, conditionally approved the wind farm after hearing public comment. The matter now goes to a state board for review, Jeremy Fugleberg of the Casper Star-Tribune reports. Commissioner Leo Chapman credited the developer, a subsidiary of Denver-based Anschutz Corp., for its work to study the birds at risk in the project area and its willingness to answer any questions thrown its way for the unanimous approval by the council and for the community's mostly favorable feeling toward the project. Chapman said such work and openness -- "things sometimes not shown by other wind project developers in the county --  helped the commissioners to approve the project." See also The Wyoming News report, here.

Va. not getting full story about coal's influence on presidential race in the state, media critic writes

Coal is at the center of this year's presidential election, with both camps touting their love of the industry and the central Appalachian region where the Obama administration's co-called "war on coal" seems to rage the fiercest. However, news outlets haven't kept up with coverage of just how big a role coal is playing in the race, Tharon Giddens of the Columbia Journalism Review reports from Virginia, like Ohio a swing state where coal can swing votes.

Both candidates have used messages about coal. Mitt Romney ran two ads criticizing President Obama's alleged over-regulation of the industry the day after Alpha Natural Resources announced mine closures and layoffs. He also made a stop in Abingdon in southwestern Virginia, near the coalfield, last week. Obama continuously touts his advocacy for "clean coal" as part of his energy strategy.

"Coal has recently moved to the center of the message war in this swing state," Giddens reports. "The political story around coal in Virginia is rich -- but most of the coverage to date has been less so, and not only because ... most news outlets here aren't doing enough to fact check the ads on the airwaves." Giddens writes that they have largely failed to recognize that while Obama's didn't do well in coal country in 2008, in a tight race, every vote counts. "Coal miners are an eye-catching stand-in for the white working class," and both campaigns are trying to target that demographic, he writes. There's been very little push-back by reporters against "the narrative about regulations forcing layoffs at Alpha," when industry experts say the industry's layoffs are stem mainly from low demand, caused by cheap natural gas and a warm winter, which left big stockpiles of coal.

"The problem is that the context, perspective and expertise on display in some of the stronger opinion pieces has been mostly lacking in the political reporting on coal, whether it’s being done in southwestern Virginia or the state’s metropolitan centers," Giddens reports. "Even setting aside environmental concerns, as the candidates have mostly done while they present themselves as friends to coal, the news coverage hasn’t done enough to dig into the campaigns’ messages, explore coal’s influence on the race, or use this opportunity to explore the story of a changing industry and region." (Read more)

Feds pick preliminary route for major power line

A proposed electrical transmission line that would cross 1,100 miles from Wyoming into Idaho and provide improved electricity to the southern parts of those states and beyond has received federal approval for its latest route. The Bureau of Land Management has chosen the route because it largely avoids wildlife habitats, national trails and archeaologically and culturally significant areas. When built, the Gateway West Transmission Line Project will be the first major transmission line constructed in the region decades. (Gateway West map: Preferred route, with alternatives; for interactive version, click here)

Gateway West tried to keep the preferred route on federal land as much as possible to avoid potential right-of-way easements across privately owned land and reduce concerns about obstructed views from residents in nearby areas, Scott Streater of Energy and Environment News reports. If completed in 2018, the joint project of Rocky Mountain Power and Idaho Power will stretch from Glenrock, Wyo., to a substation 30 miles southwest of Boise. It will carry mostly wind-generated electricity to load centers across the West.

Environmentalists, local government leaders and private landowners have voiced concerns about the project since it was proposed five years ago. Concerns have ranged from damage to historic trails, raptor nests and U.S. Air Force safety. BLM spokeswoman Beverly Gorny said the preferred route is partly based on suggestions from more than 2,600 public comments submitted after a draft environmental impact statement was released last year. The BLM continues to study alternate routes for the line's 10 segments. A final route will be chosen after another EIS and public comment period are conducted by the end of the year. A final decision about the project will be made next year, Gorny said. (Read more)

Good pay, independent culture, dislike of Obama make Appalachian coal miners 'proud to be scabs'

"As recently as the 1980s, plenty of coalfield residents thought Big Coal was the problem. But these days, in . . . Central Appalachia — southern West Virginia, southwestern Virginia, eastern Kentucky and eastern Tennessee — coal mining is overwhelmingly popular, despite well-documented risks to workers’ health and community safety," reports Gabriel Schwartzman of In These Times, a liberal, labor-oriented managzine. (Photo by Schwartzman: Supervisory miner gets coffee before work)

Schwartzman spent this summer in the region trying to determine why the previous Democratic and union stronghold has turned so sharply to the right, and doesn't mince words in presenting his conclusion: "At $108,000 a year, nothing in Appalachia compares to miners' wages," he writes. Those wage increases are linked to increased mechanization and smaller workforces, and have changed the political and financial nature of that workforce, he reports. One miner in Pike County, Kentucky, told him he would lose everything if "coal was shut down" because no job in the region could pay him as much.

The union battles for higher wages, better safety and benefits of 30 years ago were largely lost, ultimately ending with the United Mine Workers of America abandoning strikes, Schwartzman writes. Companies raised wages without unions, but cut many jobs with increased mechanization. A major unionized company in the region, Patriot Coal, is now bankrupt and unable to pay miners' pensions.

Miners with jobs told Schwartzman the non-union life is good. "We are scabs. We're proud to be scabs," one surface miner at Camp Branch mine in West Virginia told him. They are loyal to their companies, and that loyalty extends to families, friends and businesses supported by coal miners, Schwartzman reports. But an Energy Information Administration forecast of a 58 percent decline in Central Appalachian coal production by 2035 is reason for many to worry. Though the current decline is being caused mainly by competition from cheap natural gas and the decreased viability of Appalachian coal, miners tend to believe increased environmental regulation is the cause.

Schwartzman reports intimidation and threats received by those who advocate for safer mining practices or oppose mountaintop-removal mining. "Social media is used as a mobilizing tool against 'tree huggers,'" Schwartzman reports. "Aside from calling rallies and protests, post like this August 6 one appear regularly on Citizens for Coal's Facebook page: 'Just saw a post saying tree hugger in Gilbert eating at Wallys restaurant.'"

Many miners expressed to Schwartzman the need to vote out President Obama, even though his administration increased mine safety inspections, probably reducing miner injuries; increased health care for black-lung victims, and increased investments in clean-coal technology. Schwartzman writes that coal companies stir up anti-Obama rhetoric, but the Christian right and the National Rifle Association also play a role. "Those forces play upon values of autonomy and independence that run deep here," Schwartzman writes. "For 150 years, these values have helped Appalachians survive outsiders exploiting their mountain resources. Now those values have become aligned with out-of-state coal companies against environmentalists and liberals." (Read more)

Neither party has supported policies that will help the coal miner, Betty Dotson-Lewis writes for the Daily Yonder.

Wind farm in Eastern Washington could revitalize rural community, be example to others

The small farming town of Oakesdale, Wash., just south of Spokane, population 420, looks much like other small towns and rural communities across the country: boarded-up storefronts, empty restaurants, few opportunities. Now city officials hope a $200 million wind farm just west of town will provide a boost to the local economy, Kaitlin Gillespie of The Spokesman-Review reports. (S-R photo by Derek Harrison)

First Wind, a Boston-based energy company, owns the Palouse Wind Project, a 58-turbine facility that will supply power to about 30,000 people. The four-year project is expected to be completed by Thanksgiving, though 37 turbines will be producing power by the end of next week. The project is "blowing in more than renewable energy," Gillespie writes. It's bringing business and tax revenue to Whitman County. The wind farm will generate $790,000 a year in property taxes, for a total of $13.8 million over its 30-year lifespan. The project created more than 100 jobs during construction and will provide 10 permanent positions. (Read more)

Coal and the vote: Worried about Obama regulations, more ads, money and a new plant?

"A handful of utility companies are determined to buck the trend toward natural gas and break ground on what could be the last new conventional coal-fired power plants in the U.S.," Tennille Tracy of The Wall Street Journal reports. (Getty Images photo: Miners at Romney rally in southeastern Ohio)

"The moves come as the presidential campaigns spar over the future of coal power," and as they worry about an April deadline to begin construction, created by the Obama administration's limits on greenhouse-gas emissions. "They say separate government rules on mercury emissions are making it tough to hit that deadline," because the mercury rules are not due to be final until March.

Tracy notes that Republican Mitt Romney is running a TV commercial in coal states with "mournful images of coal miners facing the industry's decline. . . . With some parts of battleground states like Ohio reliant on coal jobs, the White House has started to defend itself more vigorously against the 'war on coal' allegation" being made by Republicans and coal interests. (Read more)

Also weighing in this week: Time magazine with an usual look at the debate through the eyes of controversial Ohio coal executive Robert E. Murray who "may be Obama's biggest headache in a state where he leads by about 4 points." Time's Michael Scherer gives Murray and the pro-coal alliance which has spent millions to defend Obama lots of space to vent about the president's policies. 

Most of big electric co-op's board quits, amid threat to CEO's job and strong community reaction

In a highly unusual move, most directors of Kentucky's largest rural electric cooperative have resigned after friction between board members and the co-op manager generated a public controversy.

Four of the seven directors of the South Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Corp. quit at the close of yesterday's board meeting. Last month, rumors that veteran CEO Allen Anderson would be terminated caused some in the Somerset area to rise up in protest. Anderson confirmed to The Commonwealth Journal's Jeff Neal last month that the rumors were based in fact. (CJ photo: Anderson hugs co-op member)

Anderson told Neal last month that he raised the issue of his employment with the board. "If they're actively trying to replace me, I think after 34 years I deserved for them to talk directly to me," he told Neal. "I think we all understand now that the [co-op] members will be watching and taking stock of what's happening." He said there had been a "rift" between him and some board members when the co-op's 50,000 member-customers didn't re-elect some incumbents. Some co-op employees were reportedly involved in the insurgents' campaigns, something that Anderson said he discouraged.

Yesterday, Board Chairman Richard "Rick" Stephens, left, board members John Pruitt Jr., William Shearer and Charles Gore resigned, along with board attorney Darrell Saunders. Stephens, who was on the board for 36 years, chairing it for the last 12, had been the target of a campaign to remove him from the board, reports Ken Shmidheiser of The Commonwealth Journal. The campaign was led by three local businessmen, who launched a website, Save SKRECC, that listed allegations against Stephens, including sweetheart land deals and possible conflicts of interest.

The co-op paid "just over $1 million, almost double what a company called Speculative Ventures had paid for the land just months earlier," for an 84-acre site for its new headquarters in 2003, reports Bill Estep of the Lexington Herald-Leader. "The Kentucky Public Service Commission denied South Kentucky's request to build an $18 million office at the site in 2009, saying the price was too high."

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/09/13/2336167/four-longtime-directors-of-south.html#storylink=cpy"

Stephens defended himself by saying everything was voted on by the entire board and supported by the management. "I am just one of seven individuals on the board, and do not have the authority to act alone," he wrote in The McCreary County Voice, a weekly newspaper that is owned by his family and competes with the McCreary County Record, which like The Commonwealth Journal is owned by Community Newspaper Holdings. (Read more)

Rural electric cooperatives join with coal industry to seek changes in Clean Air Act

Rural electric cooperatives are joining forces with the coal industry to defend its use as a major energy source, giving the industry a strong political ally. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is asking for the Clean Air Act to be rewritten to reduce regulations on coal-fired power plant emissions.

NRECA officials Mike Knotts and Glenn English say they want the Clean Air Act to more clearly define "a more certain regulatory environment for utilities, including a future for coal," reports Paul Barton of The Leaf Chronicle in Clarksville, Tenn. The organization has quite a bit of political clout. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign spending, the NRECA has spent $2.6 million on 2012 elections so far.

Of all the power plants owned by rural cooperatives, 85 percent are coal-fired, and about 80 percent of the co-ops' energy comes from coal. (Read more)

TVA liable in big coal-ash spill, judge rules

"A federal judge ruled today that the Tennessee Valley Authority is liable for the December 2008 coal ash spill that buried a large swath of Roane County, Tenn., under 5 million cubic yards of sludge," Manuel Quinones reports for Environment & Energy News. "U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Varlan for the Eastern District of Tennessee said that while events beyond TVA's control caused the ash pond failure, the utility's actions contributed to the spill. He also ruled certain liability protections do not apply in this case." For the ruling, click here.

"Varlan said the failure was caused by multiple TVA actions, including the placement and design of the failed dike and its decision to continue building up the wet coal ash stack at the site. The ruling also found that TVA’s failure to inform and train its personnel and the negligent performance of those personnel were substantial contributing causes," the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports. "Varlan indicated the next phase of the trial will look at questions related to individual property owners, such as whether coal ash was present on each plaintiff’s property; whether it damaged each specific property; and the amount of damage, if any, to each property and to each plaintiff." (Read more)

Coal exports head for new high; India latest buyer

As U.S. coal exports head for a new record, a New Jersey energy company has signed a deal to sell Kentucky and West Virginia coal to India. Under the deal, Kentucky coal companies will export about 9 million tons of coal annually for 25 years to India.

The deal between India's Abhijeet Group and FSJ Energy LLC comes on the heels of a massive two-day power failure across India in late July when 600 million people lost electricity. The blackout was attributed to the collapse of three regional grids. UPI reports that about 70 percent of India's electricity comes from coal-fired power plants and while India does produce coal, domestic production cannot keep up with demand. (Read more) See the story as reported from FirstPost, an Indian newspaper, here.

U.S. coal exports "are rising because U.S. demand for coal is falling as electric utilities burn more natural gas, which has plummeted in price, instead of coal," CBS Money Watch reports. "At the same time, demand for coal is rising in developing countries such as China and India as those countries work to bring electricity to millions who don't have it." (Read more)

Romney alleges 'war on coal' at a backer's mine while Obama defends tax credits for wind industry

UPDATE, AUG. 28: The miners who stood behind Romney were told by mine officials that attendance was mandatory and they would not be paid for the day because their mine was shut down, reports Sabrina Eaton of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland. "No one was forced to attend," Murray Energy Chief Financial Officer Rob Moore told David Blomquist of WWVA Radio in Wheeling. He said federal election law doesn't let companies pay workers to attend political events. (Read more)

Seeking votes in Ohio coal country today, Mitt Romney echoed the coal industry's contention that the Obama administration is "waging a war on coal." Meanwhile, President Obama, still in Iowa, planned to criticize Romney's support for repeal of wind-energy tax credits, and fresh attention was focused on the coal industry's role in the election. (Associated Press photo by Mary Altaffer)

Romney pledged that by the end of his second term, North America would be energy-independent. "If you don't believe in coal, if you don't believe in energy independence for America, just say it," Romney said at Murray Energy's Century Mine in Beallsville, about 25 miles southwest of Wheeling, W.Va. "If you believe the whole answer for our energy needs is wind and solar, then say that." The Obama campaign responded by noting that Romney supported anti-coal regulations as governor of Massachusetts, and said a coal-fired power plant "kills people." A story by Joe Vardon and Joe Hallett of The Columbus Dispatch is here.

The mine "is in a slice of Appalachia whose culture is more akin to neighboring West Virginia and rural Pennsylvania than to urban islands like Cleveland and Toledo," Stephen Koff of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland wrote in a scene-setter that also noted the "company’s colorful chief executive," Bob Murray, left, who "became famous after a collapse at the Crandall Mine in Utah, which his company co-owned, killed six miners in 2007. Murray was on the scene constantly and disputed claims about safety violations, although his company was ultimately fined." (Read more)

Murray, Joe Craft of Alliance Resource Partners and Richard Gilliam of Cumberland Resources Corp. are among a group of coal executives who "have been among the most prolific donors to Republican candidates for office in what they see as an existential fight for survival," Manuel Quinones of Environment & Energy News reports, noting that the industry's contributions "have doubled since the 2008 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. . . . This week a group of coal boosters from several producing states unveiled the COALition for Romney." (Read more)

The United Mine Workers of America isn't planning to endorse for president, apparently because of Obama's stands on coal, but former UMWA President Richard Trumka, now president of the AFL-CIO, stars in a direct-mail piece the labor federation is sending to 100,000 Ohio households. The piece identifies him as a "UMWA member." For a copy, via Politico, click here. Meanwhile, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity released a video of "two small business owners whose livelihoods depend on the survival of the coal-based electricity industry."

New EPA rules for Four Corners power plant could reduce air pollution at national parks

The Environmental Protection Agency issued its final rule aimed at reducing emissions at the largest single source of haze-causing pollution in the U.S., the Four Corners Power Plant in northwestern New Mexico. The agency says plant operators can either reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by upgrading five generators at the plant or permanently shut down three and install pollution controls on the two others.

Either move would cut emissions that can limit visibility at several Western national parks by 80 to 87 percent, reports Felicia Fonseca of The Associated Press. Regional EPA Administrator Jared Blumenfeld said reducing emissions is a "commonsense approach" that will improve air quality at parks that are "crucial to the economy of Four Corners." Arizona Public Service plans to close three units and install pollution controls. The plant provides electricity to about 300,000 homes in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.

The EPA has long considered whether the Four Corners plant and another on the Navajo Reservation would need upgrades, Fonseca reports. Under the APS's proposal to shutter three generators, it would install $290 million in pollution controls, and spokesman Damon Gross said the Navajo, local economy, customers and the environment would all benefit. However, the Navajo fear a loss of about $9 million a year in coal royalties that would come if three generators are shut down. (Read more)

Analysts blame market, not feds, for coal layoffs; say mid-Appalachia at start of long production drop

Coal train at Cumberland, Ky.
(Herald-Leader photo by Charles Bertram)

The prevailing opinion in Central Appalachia seems to be that federal anti-pollution rules are to blame for the loss of coal jobs — the "war on coal" that officials in the region decry — but independent analysts of the industry say market factors have been more responsible for recent, large layoffs.

Most notably, Bill Estep reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader, they "pointed to historically low prices for natural gas and the unseasonably warm winter, which left power plants with stockpiles of coal. Other factors, such as the slow recovery in manufacturing and the broader economy, also have played parts in the drop in demand for coal." And while that is bad enough news for the region, analysts now say that Central Appalachia is at the front end of a steep, long-lasting drop in coal production. "Some of these mines are not going to come back," said Michael Dudas, a managing director at investment firm Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc. who follows the coal industry. 

Changes in drilling technology allow companies to unlock vast new sources of natural gas, sending supplies up and prices sharply down. The May price for gas was 43 percent lower than just a year earlier, said Manoj Shanker, one of Kentucky's Education and Workforce Development Cabinet economists. Many U.S. utilities have switched from coal to natural gas for electricity generation as a result.

In April, the national share of electricity generated using natural gas matched coal's share, at 32 percent, for the first time since the U.S. Energy Information Agency began keeping such records in 1973. "The Central Appalachian coalfield, made up primarily of Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, faces other challenges as well, including competition from cheaper Wyoming coal and relatively high production costs," Estep writes. "It also costs more to produce coal in Eastern Kentucky, in part because the area has been mined for a century. Companies naturally went after the best seams first; those that are left are harder to get at, meaning higher mining costs and lower productivity." (Read more)

Wind is a cash crop in rural Kansas counties, but will it slow population decline?

BP workers install a wind turbine blade.
(Eagle photo by Fernando Salazar)

Wind farms provide a pretty strong spending spike during their almost year-long construction, but only a few jobs for local residents after construction. What they mainly provide thereafter is cash, in the form of lease payments to farmers and contributions to local governments. Which is, on measure, good financial news for rural Kansas communities, Dan Voorhis of The Wichita Eagle reports. Still, local officials fear it may do nothing to slow the depopulation of the region.

Kansas Commerce Secretary Pat George is more optimistic. George said wind farms are one of the few categories of economic development that benefit rural parts of the state. "Anytime a project can pump a few million extra dollars a year into a small county, it will create an opportunity for good things – a restaurant, a gas station, a farm equipment dealer," George said. “With wind power under construction well north of a $1 billion this year, any time you can get that investment, especially in the rural counties, it helps."

Voorhis writes that the Sunflower State is "the second windiest in the nation, but for a variety of reasons hasn’t taken full advantage of that with the construction of wind farms. At the end of 2011, it ranked 14th nationally in commercial wind power generation, according to the American Wind Energy Association.  However, by the end of 2012, the state will more than double the amount of wind energy generated in Kansas to 2,660 megawatts from 21 wind farms across central and western Kansas and could break into the top 10 states." It is something, notes Voorhis, that Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has made one of the keystones of his economic platform, a position at odds with many others in his party.

Writer tells the rural side of power outage story

Rebecca Smith washes dishes during
the power outage in a stream near 
her W.Va. home (Huenink photo)

A week after a storm knocked out electricity across a lot of the country, Rebecca Hartman Huenink has plenty of sympathy for urban dwellers who lost air conditioning. But life in non-electrified rural America, she reports for the Daily Yonder, is a bit more complicated than that. "That’s because in our part of the country, these days nearly everyone depends on a well for water. Modern wells depend on electric pumps. So, no power? No water. No water? No dish washing, no showers -- and no toilet. Think on that one for a minute."

Huenink goes on: "No power? No gas pumps. No gas pumps? No going anywhere. When you live 15, 20, or even 30 miles from the nearest town, you can't just walk down the street and buy a quart of milk. Oh, and that quart of milk? Gone sour -- in the dumpster. The grocery store, 20 or 30 miles away, doesn't have power either. So no power? No food. None to buy, anyway. Speaking of food, people in the country rely on their freezers. Animals (deer, cattle, hogs) generally go in the freezer in the fall and feed the family for the rest of the year. No power? No freezer. No freezer? No meat. As my teenage neighbor pointed out, "If the meat in the freezer goes bad, we'll be very, very vegetarian until the next calf is grown."

Huenink reminds that this is not a part of the world "where people tend to have paid time off for things like natural disasters. Most people work hourly jobs that don't pay you if you don't show up, or they run small-to-tiny farms and businesses that stand to lose big or even fold in the face of a week or more without water or transportation." Now, writes Huenink, people are talking about self-sufficiency, "neighbors wondering about wind (or solar) powered well pumps, Facebook friends swearing to ask their grandmothers to teach them to can." Meanwhile, West Virginians are used to finding a way to get by, she writes, all the while, remembering that their coal miners are the ones who keep the lights on for a lot of Americans and the awful irony that, because of terrain and remoteness, she will wait an inordinately long time for the power company to turn her electricity back on.

Alpha Natural Resources to close 4 mines, 2 plants

Alpha Natural Resources announced today that it would close four Eastern Kentucky mines and two coal-preparation plants "as continued market pressures and new regulations on coal-fired power plants make production from certain mines in those areas uneconomic." The mines are in Pike and Martin counties, the state's easternmost. Alpha said 436 employees would lost their jobs, but 286 will be offered employment elsewhere in Central Appalachia.

Alpha recently said it expected to produce less coal this year due to declining demand, mainly because of the mild winter and electric utilities' switching from coal to natural gas. "Future sales forecasts also are being affected by a series of regulatory actions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has resulted in utilities announcing plans to shut down a number of generating stations that have traditionally used Central Appalachian coal," the company said in a press release.