Cloud Peak Energy Receives Court Approval of “First Day” Motions to Support Business Operations
May 14, 2019
Cloud Peak Energy Receives Court Approval of “First Day” Motions to Support Business Operations
Sign of the Times: Coal Giant Cloud Peak Files for Chapter 11
May 13, 2019
From the Casper Star Tribune Cloud Peak Energy, the coal giant that operates two Wyoming mines, filed for bankruptcy Friday amid mounting debt and declining demand. The filing follows months of troubling signs for the Powder River Basin operator, which for a time avoided the economic difficulties of its competitors but had of late experienced growing financial challenges as the market
Cloud Peak Energy Gets Short Reprieve Amid Bankruptcy Concerns
May 6, 2019
From the Casper Star-Tribune Cloud Peak Energy gained another week of reprieve last Tuesday, when the coal company reached an agreement with creditors to extend a grace period for their unpaid debt until May 7. In a filing last Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the coal firm that operates the Antelope and Cordero Rojo mines in Campbell County
Coal Mining’s Decline: Bankruptcy Judge Strips Retiree Healthcare and Union Contract, Introduces Virginia Businessman to Wyoming Coal
February 18, 2019
From the Casper Star-Tribune Westmoreland Coal’s path in Wyoming The bankruptcy judge in the Westmoreland case ruled in favor of the coal firm Friday, which had sought to eliminate retiree health benefits and break the Kemmerer coal mine’s union contract. Miners lost on both counts, though now the buyer of the Kemmerer mine will be obligated to bargain a new contract
Michigan Gas Outage Could Bolster Trump’s Bid to Save Coal Plants
February 1, 2019
From Bloomberg A natural gas supply disruption forcing Michigan residents to lower thermostats and automakers to suspend operations could bolster President Donald Trump’s effort to keep coal plants operating possibly by invoking national security powers. The episode began Wednesday when a fire at a compressor station cut off the flow of natural gas from the facility. That prompted Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
U.S.’s Oldest Independent Coal Producer Files Bankruptcy
October 11, 2018
From Power Magazine Colorado-based Westmoreland Coal Co. on October 9 said it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with the company reporting more than $1.4 billion in debt. The company in its annual financial report in April of this year said it was considering bankruptcy in an effort to protect it from creditors. Westmoreland, which has operated for 164 years,
Coal Production Cuts Continue with Power Plant Retirements: S&P
September 7, 2018
From IEEFA Coal producers delivered 51.4 million tons of coal, 6.6% of the coal mined in the U.S. in 2017, to power plants scheduled to retire in the next 10 years as a secular decline in domestic demand continues to erode the size of the U.S. coal market. While U.S. producers have had some luck moving their product overseas in
Walls, Windmills, the BRI and Power Lines: What is China’s Long-Term Energy Strategy?
August 29, 2018
From Asia Times China is now the undisputed leader in renewable-energy manufacturing worldwide. Yet along the routes of its Belt and Road Initiative – the largest foreign-investment strategy in history – alternative-clean-energy projects pale in comparison with coal-fired power plants. This has led many commentators to question Beijing’s commitment to renewable energy beyond its borders, but enormous Chinese investments in
Natural Gas-Power Approaches Record High Usage as Coal Power Sinks
July 16, 2018
From the Casper Star-Tribune Natural gas use is projected to hit near record highs as people crank the air conditioning over the hot summer months, while coal’s share of the electricity mix will remain stagnant. Gas could provide up to 37 percent of electricity demand for June through August, according to the Energy Information Administration, an independent federal agency that
Championing Coal and Nuclear Likely to Take Market Share from NatGas
June 7, 2018
Gas-powered generation companies unhappy about administration’s coal and nuclear power bailout plans From US News President Trump’s most recent move, an announcement last week that his administration will once again try to prop up ailing coal and nuclear plants, drew widespread condemnation from a diverse array of groups and experts across the political spectrum – including the CEO of the country’s
Wyoming Coal Production Reflects Demand for Higher Heat
May 1, 2018
Nation’s largest two surface mines mostly hold course, others see large drops From the Casper Star Tribune Wyoming mines that produce lower heat coal appear to have struggled in the first quarter of the year while the state’s largest mines held steady, according to early production counts from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. Powder River Basin coal production
CPP Keep or Kill: Washington to Hear from Coal Country at EPA Clean Power Plan Meeting Tuesday
March 27, 2018
From the Casper Star Tribune The Environmental Protection Agency will hold a listening session Tuesday in Gillette to discuss the Clean Power Plan. The federal agency responsible for the emissions-cutting Clean Power Plan will hold a public meeting today in Gillette, one of only three across the country this season as the agency plans to dissolve the Obama-era rule. The
