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ERCOT Calls 2nd Energy Emergency This Week, 3rd in 5 Years
By Robert Walton
Utility Dive
 AUSTIN, TX (Aug. 16, 2019) – The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) issued an Energy Emergency Alert (EEA1) Thursday, marking the second time this week that the grid operator was forced to rely on customer conservation and call on all available sources of generation.
The grid operator for 90% of the state reported more than 5 GW of unplanned outages yesterday, while wind production also dipped.
ERCOT officials knew going into this summer the region faced a tight supply-demand balance, with a planning reserve margin of about 8.6%. Before this week, the last time ERCOT activated the emergency alert system was in January 2014.
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NRG CEO Gutierrez says ERCOT Overstates Generation Capacity
By L.M. Sixel
Houston Chronicle
 HOUSTON, TX (Aug. 8, 2019) – The state’s grid manager, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, is predicting healthier power reserves over the next five years as more solar and wind projects come online and relieve concerns Texas won’t have enough electricity to meet the state’s needs. But the predictions are too optimistic, said NRG CEO Mauricio Gutierrez, who leads Texas’ biggest seller of electricity.
Gutierrez told investors that ERCOT included out-of-date information in its May forecast by including 1.7 gigawatt capacity of three natural gas plants that have been delayed an average of five years with no signs of any of them moving forward. One gigawatt provides enough power for about 700,000 homes.
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An Inconvenient Perspective (For Some) On Coal Fleet Emissions
By ACCCE
 WASHINGTON, DC (Aug. 16, 2019) – The nation’s coal fleet supports grid reliability and resilience, provides fuel security and fuel diversity, and produces affordably priced electricity. Nevertheless, detractors want to eliminate the coal fleet because of its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. We think the goal of eliminating the fleet is unrealistic and wildly out of proportion to its CO2 emissions … especially considering the benefits of having a coal fleet. In that spirit, we’re offering some numbers that provide a different perspective on coal fleet emissions.
- According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the coal fleet is only the number three source (26 percent share) of energy-related CO2 emissions in the U.S. economy. Transportation is first (45 percent) and natural gas is second (29 percent).
- The U.S. coal fleet emitted 1.15 billion metric tons (tonnes) of CO2 in 2018. Global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are estimated to be in the range of 49 billion tonnes. This means the U.S. coal fleet is responsible for slightly more than 2 percent of worldwide anthropogenic GHG emissions and, therefore, other sources are responsible for 98 percent.
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Navajo Nation Coal Company Receives Approval to Purchase Cloud Peak Mines
By Camille Erickson
Casper Star-Tribune
 CASPER, WY (Aug. 20, 2019) – A new coal company will soon join the crowded Powder River Basin.
Navajo Transitional Energy Company received court approval Monday to purchase three coal mines owned by bankrupt operator Cloud Peak Energy, according to a statement released by the purchaser Monday afternoon. The Navajo Nation coal company will soon take over Wyoming’s Antelope and Cordero Rojo mines — the third and fifth-largest mines in the country.
“Despite solid performance at the mines themselves, (Cloud Peak) was unable to sustain the finance costs associated with this debt,” the successful bidder stated Monday. “By making the purchase through the bankruptcy process, (Navajo Transitional Energy Company) has acquired the assets free and clear of this debt burden.”
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Mandated Wind, Solar Power Makes Electric Bills Soar
By Matthew Kandrach
Wheeling Intelligencer
 WHEELING, WV (Aug. 18, 2019) – California continues to lead the nation in mandating the deployment of wind and solar power. Unfortunately, that translates into rising electricity costs that are now poised to climb higher. It’s a development that should concern families in every state.
Since 2011, electricity prices in California have jumped 30 percent — the most expensive in the western United States. And there’s no sign that this steady increase will ease.
While California’s renewable energy targets are particularly aggressive, they’re not the outlier one might imagine. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have renewable energy mandates for ever-increasing amounts of wind and solar power. These mandates tend to be expensive.
A recent analysis from the University of Chicago found that mandates drive up electricity prices. After seven years, consumers in these states paid $125 billion more for electricity than they otherwise would.
While the cost of solar arrays and wind turbines has fallen, the expense of integrating them onto the grid is rising. A higher percentage of these weather-dependent sources of electricity means more expense to balance out their peaks and valleys.
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City Backs Deal for CCS Technology to Save New Mexico Coal Plant
By Darrell Proctor
POWER
 FARMINGTON, NM (Aug. 18, 2019) – The Farmington, New Mexico, city council on Aug. 15 unanimously approved a deal to transfer 95% of the ownership interest of the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station (SJGS) to Enchant Energy, a company run by executives of a New York-based hedge fund that wants to utilize what it calls “state-of-the-art environmental technology” to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the plant and keep the facility in operation.
The contract agreement dated Aug. 16 is the latest chapter in the city of Farmington’s effort to keep the SJGS in operation. Farmington officials have worked to find a new operator for the 847-MW San Juan plant after local utility PNM, which operates the facility, in 2017 said it would close the plant’s two remaining units in 2022, 30 years ahead of schedule. The city is part owner of the plant.
Two units at SJGS were retired in 2017. Several California utilities formerly owned some of the plant’s generation, but they ended their ownership agreements in 2017 after 2015 legislation in California required them to divest from coal-fired generation.
The SJGS and its adjacent San Juan coal mine are major employers in northwestern New Mexico, and many of the workers at the mine are from the Navajo Nation. The San Juan Mine, the sole provider of coal to the SJGS, will operate under new ownership after the bankruptcy of former owner Westmoreland Coal Company, with creditors expected to take ownership. The mine’s current supply contract with the mine expires in 2022.
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China Provides $1 Billion in ‘Green’ Finance to Coal Projects in First Half of the Year
By David Stanway
Reuters
 SHANGHAI (Aug. 19, 2019) – Chinese financial institutions provided at least $1 billion in “green” financing to coal-related projects in the first half of this year, a review of financial data showed, with fossil fuels still playing a major role in Beijing’s energy strategy.
According to Shanghai-based financial data provider Wind, 7.4 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) in green corporate and financial bonds were issued by 13 coal projects in the first half of the year. They involved power plants fueled by coal or coalbed methane as well as coal-to-chemical projects.
Cutting coal and encouraging cleaner forms of energy is a major part of China’s efforts to reduce smog and greenhouse gases. The share of coal in the country’s total energy mix fell to 59% last year, down from 68.5% in 2012, and it aims to cut that share to around 50% by 2030.
But overall capacity is still set to grow even as it falls as a share of the total, and China also needs to upgrade existing mines and plants. Thus, while many global financial institutions have said they will no longer fund coal projects, their Chinese counterparts have not followed suit.
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UPDATE 1 – India’s 2019 Thermal Coal Imports Could Rise up to 13% – WoodMac
By Sudarshan Varadhan
Reuters
 NEW DELHI (July 30, 2019) – India is expected to import up to 185 million tonnes of thermal coal in 2019, the head of thermal coal at consultancy Wood Mackenzie said on Tuesday, about 13% higher than its estimate for 2018.
India’s coal imports from Australia and Colombia will increase in the long run as demand for high-energy coal grows due to environmental reasons, Dale Hazelton said at the India Coal Conference in New Delhi.
Coal is among the top five commodities imported by India, one of the world’s largest consumers of coal, and its imports of the dirty fuel rose in 2018 after two consecutive years of decline.
WoodMac previously said India’s thermal coal imports grew at their fastest pace since 2014 to 164 million tonnes in 2018.
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A Substance Found in Brown Coal can Help Combat Viruses
Physics.Org
 MOSCOW (Aug. 19, 2019) – Scientists from Russia have demonstrated a novel approach leveraging high-resolution mass spectrometry and chemoinformatics to identify biologically active molecular components of humic substances extracted from coal, and discovered substances with antiviral activity against the tick-borne encephalitis virus. The results of their study were published in the Scientific Reports journal.
Natural multicomponent mixtures, such as humic substances found in soil, peat and coal are a very important source of biologically active compounds. Understanding their composition and extracting active components can be a great help in creating new drugs. However, finding a specific compound in these environments is a highly challenging task that requires advanced methods capable of differentiating and separating one substance from another.
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Have you checked out the ACC’s social media outlets lately?
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Please be sure to follow @AmericanCoal. Tweet shout-outs and links to @AmericanCoal, along with coal-related hashtags: #coal, #climate, #CCS, #CCT, etc.
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If your company has tech- or social media-savvy employees, or employees with graphic design capabilities who are willing to donate time to help prepare infographics and social media posts, or write articles, etc., please let the ACC know – info@americancoalcouncil.org .
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Advertising Opportunities
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 The American Coal Council and The Davis Media Company have partnered together to produce the American Coal Council's suite of print and online publications.
Our current 2019 media kit is now available with upcoming opportunities in ACC’s Issue 2, 2019 of American Coal magazine!
To learn more about the benefits of being featured to decision-makers across America’s coal industry, please contact Betsy Monseu, ACC CEO at (202) 756-4540 / bmonseu@americancoalcouncil.org or Sean Davis, Publisher, The Davis Media Company, at (888) 705-8871 / sean@davismediaco.com
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