Posted on 09/04/2012 5:03:18 AM PDT by Timber Rattler
Three coal-fired power plants in West Virginia will soon stop generating electricity.
The last day of power generation for FirstEnergy Corp.'s plants in Albright, Rivesville and Willow Island was scheduled for Saturday.
FirstEnergy spokesman Mark Durbin said the plants would be deactivated by the end of the day.
Officials say some workers likely will remain on the job for a short period. They will deactivate the plants and take care of permits and environmental regulations. The plants employ a total 210 workers.
FirstEnergy also plans to close six coal-fired operations in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The Ohio-based utility attributes the closures to new federal environmental regulations aimed at reducing emissions of mercury and other toxic pollution.
Romney will switch them back on....he had better
The Democrats who voted for Sen. Joe Manchin, who has backed Obama to the hilt, should be unemployed. Sympathies to those who had more sense.
Manchin is toast
yea, but, but, but Romney would be worse so ...
It is well established that coal releases mecury which is a toxix nerve agent, into the atmosphere. Sulphur Dioxide does exactly make life easy for farmers either. Gas is cheap and it makes the most sense right now. Time for WV to move on.
Isn’t there a miners’ union?
“It is well established that coal releases mecury which is a toxix nerve agent, into the atmosphere. Sulphur Dioxide does exactly make life easy for farmers either. Gas is cheap and it makes the most sense right now. Time for WV to move on.”
What is so silly is that the government is pushing electric cars... And shutting down plants. Idiots!
Tell that to the thousands of coal miners, not only in WV, but Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, who are out of work and can't feed their families. And also those of us whose monthly electric bills have skyrocketed, just like Obama promised.
The same folks who want these coal plants closed also object to nat gas.
Liberals have always been about rationing.
Liberals have always been about rationing.
Don’t you wish that applied to the spending habits of Congressional liberals? Not to mention, Republicans.
“It is well established that coal releases mecury which is a toxix nerve agent, into the atmosphere. Sulphur Dioxide does exactly make life easy for farmers either. Gas is cheap and it makes the most sense right now. Time for WV to move on.”
Really now? I challenge you to quantify the pollutants of a modern coal plant in terms of measurable harm to farmers or “nerves”.
The only nerves harmed are the delicate sensibilities of enviro-communists who can’t stand the thought of someone using natural resources to generate power to make an economy go.
Barack Obama
I've been a self employed contractor, in-home commission sales and a few other things because I felt a "time to move on"
Some may think my work history is fractured and lacks continuity, but I reared 5 kids, built onto and rebuilt a domicile (That's another acid trip ... /8^) ..), kept two vehicles mostly all the time, no one starved, went cold or without clothes and school extra curriculars.
The ones that "can't find are a job" .. are looking for a "job"
The moment a man starts looking for "work" ... he'll find it, be employed and earn a living.
It ain't punchin' a clock and the sleep of the laborer is sweet.
Remember, with the EPA requiring tight controls on coal-fired power plants at least since the late 1970s, today's coal-fired power plants are vastly cleaner than before. We need to modernize our coal-fired power plants to burn even cleaner over the next decade or so.
The EPA and the Obama Administration are also against fracking to produce natural gas, oil and natural gas leases on government lands and new pipeline construction.
High energy prices do far more damage to farmers and everyone else than do tiny amounts of Sulfur Dioxide.
They have scrubbers that remove most of the mercury and the amounts that do go into the air fall to the ground in short order. Do you know how much mercury you come in contact from the ground every day?
Sulfer dioxide is a harmless chemical which has no effect except in scare tactics. Coal also makes extra CO2 which is good for plants. Don’t fall for the agenda driven science that wants to destroy America.
Pray for America
Get back to me when you visit Appalachia, talk to real coal miners, and learn the culture and geography. Otherwise, you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Hopefully the East Coast will experience several brown-outs before the November elections - more “Hope-n-Change” is on the way!
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Nuclear-Plants-in-Germany-Sit-Idle-as-Coal-use-Grows-by-13.5.html
Coal is cheap too. I guess it's time for Germany to move on, eh? Hypocrite?
Sounds about right to me.
Richard Trumka (Obama's most frequent visitor) was at one time president of the UMWA.
To what, The Next Big Thing? What is that? This is a mining and largely rural state. The people there don't have a lot of skills, at least those who grew up in coal mining country. They aren't going to go out and magically get jobs as nanotechnologists and computer systems engineers (even if there were a lot of jobs in those areas, which there aren't). This isn't Rocket Boys, its the real world. For every Homer Hickam there are a thousand Ike Bykovskys who make their living mining coal.
Not falling for agenda driven science. Just think it’s ludicrous to push electric cars while shutting down power plants. People are fools for not seeing the hypocrisy.
I left WV (1981) because a different opportunity opened for me.I can only surmise that coal's position as king has been in jeopardy for at least 20 years.
Plenty of time to have kitchen table discussions
The same labor in a mine is needed in the gas/oil field ... the only thing missing is ....the union.
You sound like Senator Rockefeller, who also arrogantly tells people here in WV to “move on”. The Socialist-Democrats want to control everything and they don’t care how many lives they ruin.
The cost per MW is surprisingly comparable, with combined cycle gas-fired plants rivaling many coal-fired plants. I don't watch the daily costs, but what I've seen more recently, the most efficient coal-fired generating units still run at a lower cost than combined cycle gas generation, but not much lower. And a lot of smaller, older coal generators are more expensive to run than gas.
The big disadvantage for coal right now is one created by the government - EPA standards have become more stringent and are being applied to older units. Utilities are finding that it isn't cost-effective to retrofit older generation with the latest pollution control equipment and are closing down many of the older coal-fired generation instead.
It's not because the plants are no longer servicable, it's because the EPA has grossly overstepped its authority.
I’m in PA and I am scared to death to open my electric bills every month. My electricity has tripled in the past two years. It’s insane.
You can thank Obamna who pledged that your rates would necessarily skyrocket under his plan. Also thanks to Eigenkeit above and others in Europe who have convinced Obama and the elites that we must suffer and pay more to allegedly save the world from thermageddon.
It would benefit from s'more research on US coal plant emissions/efficiencies.
Assuming they are all married, that’s at least 420 votes for Mitt.
We've been using coal for fuel for centuries and we are still living longer every year.
Coal is the least expensive fuel, and without government penalties would be way less than natural gas.
Are you a shill for Range Resources?
I love natural gas but coal is less costly.
Mein FReund ist nicht recht.
Oh, I DO. Trust me.
Glad to see my home state is coming to its senses.
yea electric bill approaching $400 a month...who says Zero doesn’t keep his promises?
Some people just never get it. He is cruising toward reelection too. Manchin votes for Harry Reid as Senate majority leader and supports him on key votes. Then Manchin turns around and grumbles about how horrible Washington is to his constituents, and shoots a bullet through the Obamacare regulations, and everyone thinks he’s some independent. Manchin votes for Harry Reid to be in charge of the Senate. That’s all you need to know to understand how badly Manchin is screwing up our economy. All the ads in the world with him with a rifle don’t change that.
They ought to be feeling a little betrayed about now.
As long as they replace them on the grid with natural gas ones. I’m not holding my breath.
People are fools for not seeing the hypocrisy.
The Volt isn’t selling very good these days. In fact they just stopped the assembly lines because of it.
Electric cars are not green because of the need to produce the energy someplace, somehow.
U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., has supported Obama’s campaign since it began.
“The claims you are hearing from the McCain-Palin campaign are misleading and untrue,” Rockefeller said in a news release. “Barack Obama has been very clear with me and with you on his plan for clean coal and it’s the most aggressive plan in support of clean coal we’ve seen from any presidential candidate.
“The idea that the McCain-Palin campaign is alleging the day before the election that Barack Obama’s commitment to coal is anything but solid is absolutely ridiculous,” he added.
“This is exactly the kind of deceptive politicking voters are fed up with.”
http://www.hsconnect.com/page/content.detail/id/511265.html? nav=5010
I wonder what Rockefeller has to say now.
Oh he’s got an agenda alright. He’s been on the global warming alarmist bandwagon for years. The problem is that now his own home country has abandoned the charade and gone back to coal. Germans always think everyone else is stupid and this time is no exception.
In November I’ll remember, and thank, Joe Manchin and BO as I pull the lever!
First Energy is my new power company. When I moved here my monthly bill was under $100. This month I get the privilege of paying them more than $500! BO’s desire to bankrupt the coal industry is coming to fruition! But I, and you, will be the causalities.
You’d think those guys would eventually learn to take their shill assignments somewhere other than the lion’s den . . .
“Gas is cheap and it makes the most sense right now.”
Yes, but is gas picking up the slack fast enough ?
I always make a point of heeding scientific advice from people who can’t spell words like “toxic” and “mercury”.
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