By Fred Pace, The Herald Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — While loaded coal barges can be seen on the Ohio River and rail cars full of coal are coming out of the coalfields of Southern West Virginia, recent and projected trends in coal production in the United States continue to decline or remain flat, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
For the week ended Oct. 19, the EIA estimated U.S. coal production totaled about 13,000,000 short tons.
“This production estimate is 2% higher than last week’s estimate and 11.5% lower than the production estimate in the comparable week in 2018,” the report stated.
A spokesman for the coal industry remains positive, though.
“The previous administration spent eight years closing down coal-fired power plants, but I remain positive that the coal industry will be able to maintain, or even grow, its coal production going forward,” said Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association.
U.S. year-to-date coal production totaled 573,000,000 short tons, 5.2% lower than the comparable year-to-date coal production in 2018, the EIA report showed. In West Virginia, coal production was down 13,000 short tons, or 0.99%, for the week ended Oct. 19 from the previous week. It was down 995,000 short tons, or 1.3%, from the same week in 2018 and down 1,633,000 short tons, or 1.7%, from the previous year. …
