Get Big Pivots

by Allen Best

Making coal history’ in the Economist

This is why the Economist charges $119 per year for a subscription—and I happily pay it. The cover story is about the ending of the age of coal.

These two pieces are at once very local and very global.

It begins locally to the Rocky Mountains, a note about the closing of the Escalante plant in New Mexico in a few months (owned and operated by Tri-State G&T – see story beginning on page 15)—but goes global. Also giving local flavor are mentions of Peabody, the coal-mining company with operations near Steamboat Springs as well as extensive operations in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, which warned in November that it might file for bankruptcy for the second time in five years. There’s also mention of the Rocky Mountain Institute.

The global story is bifurcated.

In England, where the industrial revolution began in the 1770s on the foundation of coal, the last coal-fired power plant may close by 2020.

Asia is currently home to nearly 80% of coal consumption. Most of that – 52% of the global total—takes places in one country: China, followed by India.

The cover art is memorable: a lump of coal under glass, as in a museum exhibit. It’s identified as “Coal 18th century-21st century.”

See: “Time to make coal history: Coal is at the toxic heart of the fossil-fuel economy.”

Also: “Coal’s endgame: The dirtiest fossil fuel is on the back foot.”

Wyoming tightens belt, but funding to protect coal markets remains intact

CASPER, Wyo. – The Casper Star-Tribune reports that that amid the $500 million in budget reductions in Wyoming, two provisions remained intact:

  • a clean coal marketing program; and
  • an effort to sue the state of Washington for blocking a coal export terminal

The two efforts represent just $3.45 million in allocations compared to the $500 million in total budget-cutting proposed by Gov. Mark Gordon.

“But the lack of cuts to coal underscores just how committed the state is in its fight to reverse the misfortune of the state’s traditional industry, even amid an economic downturn partially driven by coal’s decline,” the newspaper says. After talking with several energy analysts, the Star-Tribune’s Camille Erickson described those investments in coal as a “small bet on a risky hand.”

Wyoming’s legislature last year authorized $1 million for a coal marketing program, which was interpreted by the governor’s office to mean beefing up lobbying to keep coal-fired power plants open and championing the economic benefits of Wyoming coal across the country. But that effort flies in the face of powerful economic forces. The Energy Information Administration predicts coal production could fall by 26% this year. Last year, production was the lowest since 1975.

Wyoming a decade ago mined 400 million tons; last year the output had fallen to 267 million tons.

This is from the Dec. 8, 2020, issue of Big Pivots, which chronicles the great energy transition in Colorado and beyond. Sign up at BigPivots.com.

And that total will fall even more in coming years as coal plants along the Front Range of Colorado cease operation, the first in 2022 and continuing on until late 2028.

Can a federal stimulus package help Wyoming? The newspaper’s Erickson talked with a professor at the University of Michigan who studies state and federal energy policy.

“There are going to be energy bills linked to that stimulus bill,” Barry Rabe said. “And every state is going to be looking for the most advantageous terms. It’s really questionable that coal is going to be center stage in any kind of major stimulus package. I just do not hear the word ‘coal’ as part of the American or global energy future very widely anymore.”

But, of course, Asia continues to build more coal plants. So might that terminal in Washington state be an answer?

Skeptics tell the Star-Tribune that winning the lawsuit is still a long shot. Beyond the lawsuit lie further challenges: permits and the lack of capital.

In California, two more big cities decide it’s time to begin moving beyond natural gas

OAKLAND, Calif. – San Jose and Oakland have joined other cities in curbing opportunities for use of natural gas in buildings.

The East Bay Times noted that San Jose was the largest U.S. city so far to take this leap, although more than three dozen smaller cities across the nation, but mostly in Colorado, had already done so. Berkeley became the first city to prohibit natural gas when it passed an ordinance in 2019; San Francisco recently followed suit.

San Jose’s move expanded upon a city ordinance that went into effect in January barring natural gas in new single-family homes, detached accessory dwelling units, and multifamily buildings up to three stories.  Excluded from the ban are existing buildings, hospitals, and new dwelling units attached to existing homes.

Oakland’s new law requires all developers to design new residential and commercial buildings without natural gas. They can apply for waivers for “technology feasibility reasons.” Existing buildings, additions, and accessory dwelling units are unaffected by the legislation.

A key question in San Jose was whether fuel cells powered by natural gas or hydrogen will offer a viable path to the future. That’s the business of Bloom Energy, a company based in San Jose. The chief executive, Carl Guardino, argued that intermittent renewable resource must be paired with reliable generation such as the Bloom boxes to “keep the lights on and businesses running.”

Meanwhile, the pushback grows against such bans. Arizona, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Oklahoma have all enacted laws barring local jurisdictions from banning new natural gas in buildings. Similar efforts had been introduced in Missouri, Minnesota, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Georgia.

An industry-initiated ban was pulled from the ballot in Colorado earlier this year after an agreement brokered by Gov. Jared Polis.

The Salt Lake Tribute reports that Utah legislators will consider a similar statewide prohibition on local bans at their coming session.

“We should have customer choice when it comes to energy,” bill sponsor Rep. Stephen Handy told the Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Interim Committee. “As policymakers, we should allow for customer choices, whatever the market dictates, whatever that is. We shouldn’t prohibit customer choice.

Democrats dissented, arguing that since there were no such proposals, the bill serves no real purpose.

The Tribune reports that the bill passed on a party-line division.

Dominion Energy owns Utah’s largest natural gas utility, Questar, and also “Wexpro, a gas exploration and production firm with operations in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.”

Sammy Roth, of the Los Angeles Times, reports that at a recent webinar, a Dominion Energy executive was asked whether he foresaw local gas bans spreading from California to other parts of the country.

“Unless we do something about it, they will spread,” said Donald Raikes, the company’s president of gas distribution.

Solar farm success for Park City and others 

Utah regulators have approved a plan by six large organizations to purchase electricity and renewable energy attributes from an 80-megawatt solar project west of Salt Lake City in Tooele County. The electricity will be fed into the system of Rocky Mountain Power, the utility that serves Salt Lake and adjoining areas.

The output will be earmarked for the Salt Lake City, Park City, and Summit County governments, Utah Valley University, and the Deer Valley Resort (operated by Alterra Mountain Co.) and Park City Mountain Resort (operated by Vail Resorts).

“This speaks to the power of collaboration among Park City’s largest energy users,” said Park City Mayor Andy Beerman. “We are proud to be part of this effort, which will move us closer to our goal of net-zero carbon and 100 percent renewable electricity for city operations by 2022, and community-wide by 2030.”

The solar farm will be located on state land, producing income for state schools.

 

Allen Best
Follow Me

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This