Wyoming coal industry warns of curtailed production if federal reserves not opened soon

Coal industry: Delays could affect Wyo. production

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming’s coal industry says long delays obtaining new reserves is making it difficult to plan for the future and could take a bite out of production if the government doesn’t act soon.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has been taking longer than expected to sell new federal reserves in the Powder River Basin, the nation’s top coal-producing region. Some lease auctions planned last year have yet to be held.

Coal companies typically plan years in advance to expand their surface mines. That’s because such expansions require substantial investments in things like house-sized dump trucks and railroad tracks.

While the Powder River Basin mines aren’t imminently going to run out of coal, uncertainty makes planning for future investments difficult, said Marion Loomis, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association.

“In order for us to have a timely development and keep the mines going, you need to have an orderly process that allows for new coal reserves to be leased,” Loomis said Friday. “We’re nearing a point where the mines are either going to have to curtail production, or they’re going to have modify their existing mine plan.”

BLM Director Bob Abbey, who visited with coal industry representatives in Gillette this week, said coal is important for providing the nation’s energy but the federal coal in Wyoming must be developed responsibly.

He said responsible development includes considering air quality at and downwind from the coal mines. He also said the government must consider how burning coal contributes to climate change by producing carbon dioxide.

“We’re certainly not anti-development by any means. But we do understand the need to have responsible development,” Abbey said Wednesday.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal, who accompanied Abbey during his visit, has been saying for years that Congress should develop a way to regulate carbon dioxide emissions to provide more market predictability for Wyoming coal.

No such bill has passed. Until that happens, Freudenthal said Wednesday, the high-level Interior Department officials holding up the leases need to make sure they’re sold.

“These leases should proceed because they recognize that coal is going to be part of the equation no matter what they do,” the governor said.

Wyoming’s 19 surface coal mines produced 464 million tons of coal last year, about 40 percent of U.S. coal production, according to the Energy Information Administration.