Coal Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

EPA Foes Vow To Block Power Plant Rules. It May Not Matter

Regardless of whether the rule stands or falls, the standards it sets could happen anyway.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued its final rule to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants Thursday, and the reaction from state officials was swift.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said he’d take the case to court. Republican U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said she’d introduce a repeal resolution in the Senate. Democrat Joe Manchin, who’s not running for re-election, said he’d support her measure.

Regardless of whether the rule stands or falls, the standards it sets could happen anyway.

Morrisey was successful in his bid to block President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan. The U.S. Supreme Court sided with him in West Virginia v EPA two years ago.

The policy never took effect. But as Amanda Levin, director of policy analysis for the Natural Resources Defense Council, points out, the goals it set were met, and earlier than planned.

“That was also a rule at that time, there were concerns about whether or not the power sector would be able to achieve it, and it ended up achieving those standards 11 years early, even though the rule was stayed,” she said.

Now, as then, critics of the rules, including some in the electric power sector, say they can’t be achieved. Manchin points to the 2021 winter storm in Texas that caused deadly power outages.

“We saw what happened in Texas, how many people’s lives were lost, how much was disrupted in the economy, went to heck in a handbasket down there when their gas lines froze up.” he said.

The failures in Texas, and more recently in the eastern United States in late 2022, were mostly of fossil fuel infrastructure, especially natural gas. Renewables and battery storage helped hold the Texas power grid through last summer’s heat.

Levin says the new EPA rules come at a time when electric utilities are rapidly building wind, solar and battery storage. They’ve already surpassed coal and even nuclear.

“Clean energy sources are now the cheapest and fastest growing source of new power generation,” she said.

Even West Virginia is building more solar and will soon begin building storage batteries.

Mon Power activated the largest solar facility in the state in January in Monongalia County and is building another one in Harrison County.

Form Energy is building a long-duration storage battery plant in Weirton. Other companies coming to West Virginia, including steelmaker Nucor, wanted access to renewable power.

Phil Moye, a spokesman for Appalachian Power, which operates three coal plants in West Virginia, says the company is looking at the EPA rules to see how they affect plant operations and future investments.

“The development of new dispatchable generation resources and storage technologies will be critical in determining how quickly the industry can meet the requirements of the new rules,” he said.

Appalachian Power is an underwriter of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

EPA To Require Coal And New Gas Power Plants To Cut Emissions

The power plant rules align with changes that have been happening in the sector in the past decade. Electric utilities have moved sharply away from coal, largely switching to natural gas.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday rolled out its final rules to cut emissions from existing coal-fired and new gas power plants.

Those plants will have to ultimately cut their carbon dioxide emissions by 90 percent or shut down.

The new rules include updated limits on mercury and other toxic pollutants from plants that burn coal. They also include changes to how power plants dispose of the wastewater that results from treating coal emissions to remove toxic pollutants.

Finally, the rules require the cleanup of coal ash disposal sites that were closed prior to 2015.

“By developing these standards in a clear, transparent, inclusive manner, EPA is cutting pollution while ensuring that power companies can make smart investments and continue to deliver reliable electricity for all Americans,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan.

The power plant rules align with changes that have been happening in the sector in the past decade. Electric utilities have moved sharply away from coal, largely switching to natural gas.

“This year, the United States is projected to build more new electric generation capacity than we have in two decades – and 96 percent of that will be clean,” said White House Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi.

Renewables such as wind and solar account for an increasing percentage of power generation and have surpassed coal.

Still, fossil fuel producing states, and some industry groups, are expected to challenge the new rules. Some will argue that the rules will have a negative economic impact on power plant communities. Others will say the rules will make the power grid less reliable.

“We will be challenging this rule,” said West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in a statement issued soon after the new rules were published. “The U.S. Supreme Court has placed significant limits on what the EPA can do—we plan on ensuring that those limits are upheld, and we expect that we will once again prevail in court against this out-of-control agency.”

Morrisey, who’s running in West Virginia’s Republican primary for governor, led a successful challenge of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. The Supreme Court’s ruling in West Virginia v EPA two years ago constrained the EPA’s rulemaking process. Morrisey and others are likely to argue that the agency still overstepped its authority.

Others say the grid simply isn’t ready for a massive shift away from traditional baseload power to more intermittent sources of energy such as wind and solar.

“This barrage of new EPA rules ignores our nation’s ongoing electric reliability challenges and is the wrong approach at a critical time for our nation’s energy future,” said Jim Matheson, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Adding to the uncertainty, a change in administrations after this year’s election could result in a rollback of the new rules.

If the rules hold up, the EPA projects $370 billion in climate and public health benefits over the next two decades. The agency’s analysis predicts a reduction of 1.38 billion tons of CO2 through 2047, the equivalent of the annual emissions of 328 million gasoline powered cars.

The EPA is also gathering public input on a proposal to cut emissions from existing gas-fired power plants. Natural gas is currently the nation’s top source of electricity, and though it produces lower carbon emissions than coal, the production and transportation of gas emits methane, a more powerful heat-trapping gas than CO2.

The EPA’s principal solution for coal and gas plants to comply with the new rules is carbon capture and storage. But the technology has not been deployed successfully on a commercial scale, and power plant operators say that the rules will force fossil fuel plants to effectively shut down.

“It is obvious that the ultimate goal of these EPA regulations is to stop the use of fossil fuels to produce reliable energy in the United States by forcing the premature closure of coal plants and blocking new natural gas plants,” said U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Another powerful foe of the EPA rules vowed Thursday that she’d introduce a bill to repeal them.

“To protect millions of Americans, including energy workers, against executive overreach that has already been tried and rejected by the Supreme Court,” said U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, “I will be introducing a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to overturn the EPA’s job-killing regulations announced today.”

Capito is the senior Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees the EPA and confirms its administrator.

Coal Production Lags In First Two Weeks of April, Federal Data Show

U.S. coal production fell below 8 million tons the first two weeks of April, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Coal has seen a slump in production this month, according to federal data.

U.S. coal production fell below 8 million tons the first two weeks of April, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

A year ago, the United States produced about 10 million tons of coal during the first half of the month. Year to date, coal production is down more than 16 percent.

Coal was once the dominant fuel for producing electricity but it has been overtaken in recent years by natural gas and increasingly renewables such as wind and solar.

Further data show that coal’s market share for U.S. electricity has been under 15 percent for the past two months.

At its peak in 2008, the country produced 23 million tons a week and it commanded more than 40 percent of U.S. electricity generation.

The sector will lean more heavily on exports, the Energy Information Administration reported, though the temporary closure of the Baltimore export terminals will dent those numbers as well.

Production in West Virginia is down 14.5 percent from a year ago, according to the agency, and 13.5 percent in Appalachia.

A mild winter can cut into electricity demand, and natural gas prices are lower as well, eroding coal’s competitiveness.

Appalachian Couple Shares Lifelong Dream And Sam Weber Has Our Song Of The Week, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, Sue and Stan Jennings for 30 years have run Allegheny Treenware, a company that makes wooden kitchen utensils. But they started off as a couple of coal miners. Folkways Reporter Capri Cafaro has more.

On this West Virginia Morning, Sue and Stan Jennings for 30 years have run Allegheny Treenware, a company that makes wooden kitchen utensils. But they started off as a couple of coal miners. Folkways Reporter Capri Cafaro has more.

Also, in this show, our Mountain Stage Song of the Week comes to us from Sam Weber. Known for his distinctive style that blends elements of folk, rock and Americana, Weber performed a handful of new works during his second appearance on Mountain Stage. We listen to his performance of “Hey, Hey.”

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Our Appalachia Health News project is made possible with support from Marshall Health.

West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Liz McCormick, and Randy Yohe.

Eric Douglas is our news director. Emily Rice and Chris Schulz produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

CSX Builds Zero-Emission Hydrogen Locomotive In Huntington

CSX No. 2100 was repowered from a kit developed in Canada by Canadian Pacific. It emits only water vapor and no carbon dioxide, depending on how the hydrogen was produced.

CSX unveiled a hydrogen-powered locomotive this week, rebuilt from a diesel locomotive at its Huntington Shop.

CSX No. 2100 was repowered from a kit developed in Canada by Canadian Pacific. It emits only water vapor and no carbon dioxide, depending on how the hydrogen was produced.

“The successful debut of our first hydrogen-powered locomotive stands as a testament to the exceptional skill and dedication of our employees at the CSX Huntington locomotive shop,” CEO Joe Hinrichs said in a statement.

Emissions from transportation are the largest single source of carbon dioxide emissions, and major railroads are looking for opportunities to repower diesel locomotives with alternative fuels.

In addition to hydrogen, some locomotives operate with liquefied natural gas or run on batteries.

Thanks to a federal grant, CSX will replace a small fleet of diesel locomotives with battery powered ones at the Curtis Bay coal export terminal in Baltimore.

Gas Group’s Chief Talks About MVP, Carbon And Coal Competition

Curtis Tate spoke with Charlie Burd, president of the West Virginia Gas and Oil Association, about the state’s role in supplying the global market.

The United States exported a record volume of natural gas in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Curtis Tate spoke with Charlie Burd, president of the West Virginia Gas and Oil Association, about the state’s role in supplying the global market.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tate: Who are the biggest natural gas players in West Virginia? Where does the gas go?

Burd: We have two of the largest natural gas producers in the country operating in West Virginia. Actually, EQT is the largest natural gas producer in the country. And Antero resources is the largest natural gas producer in West Virginia. And I believe I heard the number that about a third of our production here in the state, and we produce just less than 3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. It was 2.8 in 2022. And I’ve heard during the legislative session, that number may top 3 trillion for 2023. I haven’t seen those numbers yet. Because the reports aren’t due until like April, mid-April, but about a third, I believe, of our production is transported east to be converted into liquefied natural gas to be shipped across the oceans to our allies.

Tate: Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was a game changer. When did production take off?

Burd: I think the first well was drilled in December of 2007, put into production in 2008. That was a Chesapeake well. We produced 256 (billion cubic feet) of natural gas. And now we’re producing round numbers that say 3 trillion cubic feet. So that’s where it started. And that’s where we are. And it has greatly increased from year to year. That 3 TCF, 96 percent of that comes from probably about 4,600 horizontal wells in 2022, 2.85 trillion cubic feet from 4,500 wells. And I think we’ve added about 100 wells. I won’t have the exact numbers for a couple of weeks. That’s where it all came from.

Tate: Where is the production concentrated?

Burd: If you were to look at a map of West Virginia, and look at I-79, which literally dissects the state almost straight up the middle of north and south. When you get to about Braxton County, and it all goes to the northwest. That’s where the wet play is. That’s where the more enriched natural gas with propane and ethane is, if you’re again using that as a kind of a guide, using 79 as a guide, anything to the east of 79 is pretty much in a dry play. It’s almost pipeline quality gas coming out of the ground there.

Tate: What’s the difference between wet and dry gas?

Burd: Wet gas has the heavier hydrocarbons: propane, ethane, butane, isobutane. And what we call dry gas would be that gas stream that is just mostly methane. So in addition to methane, those other heavier hydrocarbons are what we delineate as a wet gas. And we produce somewhere in the neighborhood of 700,000 barrels of ethane and liquids a day in that northwestern tier of the state. And those products are extracted through two or three large processing facilities we have up in that also in that same general area. Those liquids are sent south and north, south into Louisiana and north into Canada to be further processed. Or put in a pipeline and shipped to where those liquids are used.

Tate: What does the Mountain Valley Pipeline mean for gas producers in West Virginia?

Burd: That pipe is what they call fully subscribed. Meaning that the end users that have already subscribed or purchased will be purchasing that gas in long term, fixed contracts for that natural gas. But it means a lot to us because it’s literally, probably one of the last major pipelines that may be built. And for West Virginia, unlike Texas, and other places that can move a lot of gas across their state and be intrastate, our situation is much different. We have to ship our gas out of state where there are markets. West Virginia is small in comparison to other markets. So our gas is moved through interstate pipelines out of the state.

Tate: Why is MVP one of the last major pipelines to be built?

Burd: I think you just look at the extraordinarily difficult process someone has to encounter to design and construct a pipeline in this country now, it’s almost impossible. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which was a Dominion project, another 2 BCF a day that would have gone to eastern markets and military use. That project got scrapped a couple years ago. Because, the cost overruns, and just the increased scrutiny of us to have a line crossing 200 feet under the Appalachian Trail. Not impacting the trail at all, but just because it, quote-unquote, “crossed underneath.” that there was a lot of outcry.

Tate: Burning natural gas emits carbon dioxide and producing and transporting gas releases methane. Both are greenhouse gases. What is the industry doing to reduce those impacts?

Burd: Number one on our own, several years ago, the industry took upon itself to develop a program internally to reduce methane emissions. And here in the (Appalachian) basin, there’s lots of smaller conventional wells. And now in addition to the bigger Marcellus wells, we’ve reduced our carbon footprint here by something like 70 percent, over the last 10 years, just on initiatives, initiatives of our own, and then we get new legislation that says we have to do more. I mean, I think we’re still in the process of completing what we started on our own. Secondly, the methane that comes off of fugitive emissions that we would have when wells are put in, put into service, and methane doesn’t stay hovering over West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. It goes way into the atmosphere. And there’s no question that if this administration is serious about reducing global emissions, no one produces natural gas more safely, or efficiently, or environmentally sound. And we do that we do right here in this country. No one has the exacting standards for environmental and safety as the United States does.

Tate: Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia have moved sharply away from coal and toward natural gas for electricity in the past 10 to 15 years. Why hasn’t West Virginia?

Burd: Well, it’s not because of lack of effort to develop natural gas fired electric generation. We have tried, and there have been numerous projects that have been placed upon the table. I think, Curtis, choosing my words with you carefully here, we have a state that has historically believed its reliance on energy and jobs came from the coal industry. But at the hands of the EPA and others, this constant demand to reduce emissions, and produce energy cleaner has transformed all those states you mentioned to producing electricity with natural gas. West Virginia’s a bit behind, but it’s not because we’re not trying. It’s just that we find ourselves in a better place. Literally, every day when it comes to being able to compete for those projects evenly with all the same playing field with Ohio, Pennsylvania. I mean, you’re right, Ohio and Pennsylvania collectively have maybe two dozen plants, two dozen natural gas fired electric generation plants. We literally have one down there in Huntington.