06 Feb 2015
CONSOL Energy COO Says Coal Remains Backbone of Nation’s Economy
Miller Creek Operations Earn WVCA Reclamation Award
Canonsburg, PA (February 6, 2015) – CONSOL Energy Chief Operating Officer Jimmy Brock told attendees at the West Virginia Coal Association Symposium meeting last week in Charleston, WV, that while the last few years have come with many challenges for the coal industry, coal remains a cornerstone of global electricity and the backbone of the nation’s economic and social fabric.
Brock delivered the opening remarks at the 42nd annual meeting of the WVCA which concluded last Friday with a luncheon and the presentation of reclamation awards.
CONSOL Energy’s Miller Creek operations won a reclamation award recognizing its work on a haul road at its Twin Branch Mining Complex. The award is for exemplary performance in the construction and operation of a haul road while protecting the environment. In constructing the road, CONSOL reworked a dilapidated gravel haul road, making it wider, straightening out curves, rip-rapping ditches, reducing the grade and paving the 30-foot road with eight inches of asphalt for one mile.
The award recognizes the Twin Branch Surface Mine for having taken numerous precautions to limit the potential impacts of coal haulage to the environment and for having been a good steward in the communities in which it operates.
Once operations are complete, it was noted, the road will be turned over to the state and will serve as access to the future Twin Branch Motorsports Complex in Mingo County, WV.
Brett Holbrook, vice president of Central Appalachia coal operations; Ed Fanning, permitting supervisor; Adam Bryant, Miller Creek mine engineer; and Brock Kidd, environmental engineer, accepted the award on behalf of CONSOL Energy.
During his opening remarks at the symposium earlier in the week, Brock noted that with estimated recoverable reserves to meet projected needs and use for the next 250 years, coal powers life and has the potential to continue to do so from the coalfields, to Main Streets and beyond.
That same coal, he added, is going to play a big part in America’s comeback. Projections by the International Energy Agency show that coal-fueled power generation is likely to increase 3,800 terawatt hours by 2035. Currently in the United States, coal generates 25 percent or more of the electricity in 31 states, as well as at least half of the electricity used in 17 other states.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports it will continue to account for the largest share of electricity generation in this country through 2030, Brock said.
“The world is figuring out what we’ve known for generations,” Brock said. “Coal provides the fastest and most stable path to electrification and development with its reliability and affordability.
“If we work together, we can create an atmosphere where coal can continue to survive and thrive for decades to come,” Brock said in urging lawmakers at both the state and national level to consider reasonable public policy which recognizes coal as the affordable, reliable and home-grown resource that it is.
He called upon them to “facilitate an environment with coal as the critical pillar of an all-of-the-above energy strategy that we all know it must be.”
Brock concluded his remarks, noting a new era for coal lies ahead.
“The country and the world needs our coal,” he said, “and we will continue to innovate, adapt, improve and find ways to push the envelope.”
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CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) is a Pittsburgh-based producer of natural gas and coal. The company is one of the largest independent natural gas exploration, development and production companies, with operations centered in the major shale formations of the Appalachian Basin. CONSOL Energy deploys an organic growth strategy focused on rapidly developing its resource base of 6.8 trillion cubic feet of proved natural gas reserves, while the company’s premium coal assets are sold to electricity generators and steelmakers both domestically and internationally. CONSOL Energy is a member of the Standard & Poor's 500 Equity Index and the Fortune 500. Additional information may be found at www.consolenergy.com.
Contact: Cathy St. Clair, at (276) 498-8239