UWUA Local 304 Utility Workers Union of America AFL-CIO

The UMWA has testified in PA. about recent EPA Clean Power rules, through energy economist and attorney Eugene M. Trisko of Berkeley Springs, WV.

Mr. Trisko’s report tracks in on points all of us who depend on coal for a living have discussed among ourselves, but to read his thorough analysis and see the staggering data in black and white is overwhelming.

Mr. Trisko estimates cumalative jobs direct losses between 2015- 2035 of 2.3 million, while the economic costs, both direct and indirect he estimates to be $376 BILLION dollars.

Pennsylvania is the 4th leading coal producing state, so one can only speculate what the impact would be on West Virginia. Pennsylvania has more diversity in their economy than West Virginia, as well as major urban centers on each east and west border.

The new rules also do not give credit for those old and inefficient coal plants shut down since 2009. The new rules force reliance on natural gas, whose price volatility is well known while delivery problems are still being learned; and nuclear power, which has faced many decommissionings  of plants which are all of the 1960’s and 70’s vintage. Renewable energy is the catchphrase currently buzzing in the publics ear, but this energy is non-dispatchable energy that has to be used immediately when it’s available and replaced with other generation when it is not.

If coal was a person, it would probably feel hurt and betrayed, after building and sustaining this country all these years, through an industrial revolution two World Wars, and the emergence of the United States as one of the worlds most powerful superpowers. Coal is as American as apple pie, baseball, and hot dogs; but it’s being treated by our culture as the black sheep of the family.

Modern coal power plants, with scrubbers for SO2 emmissions and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCRs) for nitous-oxide are burning coal more cleanly than ever. Power plant water usage is more closely monitored than ever and usage is down. One advantage coal has over nuclear power is that if a coal plant explodes it doesn’t leave millions of acres uninhabitable for hundreds of years.

One problem utilities face is a loss of credibility with the public they serve, after Enron, deregulation, coal ash spills, and other shenanigans that regulated utilities used to hold themselves above and apart from other common corporate businesses. Ma’ Bell turned into Ma’ Barker, but the one thing the people who work in utilities know and understand is how to make electricity and get it to the customer in the safest and cheapest way possible.

One of the most powerful campaigns that came out of the healthcare overhaul was grandma’ sitting at her kitchen table trying to decide if she was going to pay for her perscriptions or buy food for that month. If the EPA rules continue unabated, she will have to make this decision in the dark because she will not be able to pay her electric bill.

Read Mr. Trisko’s full analysis by clicking here