The Collapse of Coal

The last of the big-time U.S. coal companies has gone bankrupt, and in the hills of Appalachia, they’re looking for their next move. How will the former coal miners find new careers and build new industries? How will the liabilities of coal companies ever get paid? And how did we get into this situation in the first place? We talk with one of the best coal reporters in the business (and a West Virginian native) to find out.

Geek rating:5

Guest: Taylor Kuykendall, coal reporter based in Charlottesville, Virginia for S&P Global Market Intelligence

On Twitter: @taykuy

On the Web: S&P Global Market Intelligence articles by Taylor Kuykendall

Recording date: April 18, 2016

Air date: June 1, 2016

Links

Taylor Kuykendall and Hira Fawad, S&P Global Market Intelligence: “Central Appalachia coal production cut in half in past 5 years” (Apr 18, 2016)

Taylor Kuykendall, S&P Global Market Intelligence: “Ahead of bankruptcy, Peabody cut production at nation’s largest coal mine by a third” (Apr 15, 2016)

Taylor Kuykendall and Ashleigh Cotting, S&P Global Market Intelligence: “Companies recently filing bankruptcy produce more than 2/3 of PRB coal” (Apr 13, 2016)

Taylor Kuykendall, S&P Global Market Intelligence: “Replacing Coal, part 1: ‘Great Depression’ grips pockets of Mountain State” (Apr 12, 2016)

Taylor Kuykendall, S&P Global Market Intelligence: “Replacing Coal, part 2: ‘Starting now’ — a new narrative ‘by us, not about us’” (Apr 13, 2016)

Taylor Kuykendall, S&P Global Market Intelligence: “Replacing Coal, part 3: ‘The Clean Power Plan is the battle, not the war’” (Apr 14, 2016)

S&P Global Market Intelligence Energy’s 14-part Future of Coal series

Taylor Kuykendall, S&P Global Market Intelligence: “Murray says ‘zombies’ of bankruptcy should stop ‘chasing ghosts’ of coal markets” (Jan 28, 2016)

Taylor Kuykendall, S&P Global Market Intelligence: “‘End of an Era’: Arch joins list of nearly 50 coal bankruptcies since 2012” (Jan 11, 2016)

Taylor Kuykendall, S&P Global Market Intelligence: “Climate activists look past Clean Power Plan in tussle with wounded coal sector” (Mar 28, 2016)

Taylor Kuykendall, S&P Global Market Intelligence: “‘Look for pockets of value’: Investors share tips on betting with coal” (Jan 29, 2016)

John Raby, AP: “Appalachian counties hit by coal layoffs losing population” (Mar 24, 2016)

Anders Hove, Paulson Institute: “A New Opening for Clean Energy in China” (April 22, 2016)

Regulatory Assistance Project: “Obama-Xi Joint Presidential Statement on Climate Change Promises Much-Needed Reform of Generator Dispatch in China” (September 25, 2015)

Tom Kenning, PV Tech: “India’s Karnataka plans to triple solar targets to 6GW” (May 11, 2016)

Carbon Pulse: “Germany launches €17 billion campaign to boost energy efficiency” (May 12, 2016)

Galen Barbose et al., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: “The Future of Utility Customer Funded Energy Efficiency Programs in the United States: Projected Spending and Savings to 2025” (January 2013)

Reuters: “China to boost energy storage 10-fold to cut power waste” (May 13, 2016)

Bernd Radowitz, Recharge: “One out of two German small PV plants built with storage in 2015” (May 24, 2016)

Mike Stone, Greentech Media: “Report: Batteries Will Not Be the Future of Grid Balancing in Germany” (Apr 26, 2016)