Pat Dollard

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Business Wire:

ST. LOUIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Today, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) announced the formation of a new coalition “Energy for Missouri Jobs” that will promote policies that ensure Missouri’s ability to access affordable, reliable power through coal. Energy for Missouri Jobs supports reasonable environmental regulation that continues the pursuit of cleaner air while balancing economic priorities.

The Energy for Missouri Jobs coalition is deeply concerned about the impact of new regulations under consideration by the Environmental Protection Agency on electricity costs and reliability. The coalition wants to continue the environmental progress made in recent decades in a manner that does not jeopardize our economic recovery, unnecessarily increase electricity costs, or threaten the reliability of our electricity system.

“Missouri working families cannot afford regulations that will raise electricity costs and destroy jobs during this fragile economic recovery,” said Robert Kelley, President Emeritus of the St. Louis Labor Council and member of Energy for Missouri Jobs. “The EPA needs to consider a balanced approach that gives us cleaner air without sacrificing jobs and increasing energy prices.”

Energy for Missouri Jobs believes that access to affordable energy is essential to a high quality of life. The United States has a 200-year supply of energy contained in American coal reserves. Coal is particularly important in Missouri because it is used to generate more than 80% of the electricity in the state.

Energy for Missouri Jobs is committed to a cleaner environment. Coal-fueled electricity continues to make great progress in improving its environmental footprint. Nationally, since 1970, emissions that traditionally have been controlled under the Clean Air Act have been reduced by more than 80% per unit of electricity produced.

More from the News-Journal of Longview, Texas:

Unless courts rule in its favor, Luminant energy announced plans Monday to cut some 500 jobs by closing coal-fired power plants in Titus and Freestone counties.

“This would be devastating to the Northeast Texas economy — not just Titus County,” Titus County Chamber of Commerce Director Faustine Curry said of the losses from the regional employer and taxpayer. “In Titus County, we have the power plant, the mines.”

The company said the job losses and plant shutdowns represent its best shot at meeting a January deadline to comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule.

In addition to shutting down two of three units at Luminant’s Monticello plant outside Mount Pleasant, company officials said they plan to stop mining coal at the Thermo and Winfield mines in favor of cleaner-burning coal from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.

Land reclamation work at both mines will continue.

Luminant also announced a lawsuit it filed in federal court to exclude Texas from the cross-state pollution rule and prevent the job losses and plant closures. The rule is designed to attack pollution-causing emissions that travel across state lines, and Texas initially was not included in it among states ordered to comply.

“You hope that the (court) stay will work and things get sorted out to the benefit of all,” Curry said. “I”m sure that (Luminant) wants to try to deal with it with the least amount of pain. … We have been so fortunate to have Luminant in the community.”

The job cuts will take place in 2012 and 2015, Luminant spokeswoman Ashley Barrie wrote in an email response to questions.

“We estimate 400 jobs will be eliminated by early next year, with the remainder being lost by 2015 once mining reclamation work is complete at the affected mines,” she wrote. “To be clear, this is the plan if we are unsuccessful with our legal actions.”

The company also announced Monday that it would install clean-air technology at its Martin Lake Power Plant southwest of Tatum. The unit at Monticello that is staying open will see similar retrofitting.

“The company expects to invest more than $250 million before the end of 2012 and estimates that it will invest more than $1.5 billion before the end of the decade in environmental control equipment to comply with regulatory requirements,” Barrie wrote. “I would anticipate the addition of new environmental control equipment could generate additional jobs over the duration of the project. I cannot, though, speculate how many jobs or for how long.”

Since the EPA’s inclusion of Texas in the cross-state rule earlier this summer, AEP Southwestern Electric Power Co. has said it will shutter one of three units at the Welsh plant, near Pittsburg, by December 2014 to meet the lower emissions benchmark.

That will mean the loss of 14 jobs, SWEPCO spokesman Scott McCloud previously said. SWEPCO also plans to retrofit Welsh’s other two units, and two at the Pirkey plant south of Longview, by December 2015.

SWEPCO estimated tax losses to local communities at $980,000 and rate hikes of 16 to 23 percent. SWEPCO serves much of Northeast Texas, including Longview.

The Luminant plants feed the power grid for most of Texas that does not include the SWEPCO service area.

Luminant on Monday also announced changes at the two units at its Big Brown plant outside Corsicana. The two units at the plants will switch to Powder River Basin coal.

The Turlington mine will close, except for reclamation work.

Texas was added in July to the list of states included in the rule, which requires sulfur dioxide emissions be reduced across the country by 64 percent of 2010 levels. The EPA says the action will prevent tens of thousands of premature deaths and thousands of asthma attacks.

Sulfur dioxide is a gas that causes constriction of airways and aggravates asthma. It also is a major contributor to acid rain, which enters the food chain when it descends on rivers and lakes.

Environmental groups hailed Monday’s announcement regarding the closing plants. Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Railroad Commissioner Barry Smitherman and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality all issued statements decrying Texas’ inclusion in the cross-state rule.