MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The estimate of North Central West Virginia miners who will likely lose their jobs this summer stands at 588.
The number includes 428 UMWA miners and 160 other employees who work for Murray Energy’s Monongalia County mine.
Company leaders are blaming federal policies regulating how they mine coal.
“We need to work with our communities to keep jobs not to lose jobs,” said U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, recently visiting Monongalia, Marion and Harrison counties to discuss infrastructure, energy policies and broadband internet access in the Mountain State.
Capito is one of 30 senators who’ve introduced or are backing the Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act, or ARENA.
“We can make it cleaner through research and development and places like West Virginia University. I feel so much for the families. I’m afraid we haven’t seen the end of if, but we’re going to keep fighting it,” Capito said.
A study released from WVU’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research this week predicts coal production in West Virginia will decline by 39 percent in the 2 decades.
That report, titled “Coal Production in West Virginia: 2015-2035,” cited economic, environmental and regulatory factors in coal’s decline including weak export demand, reduced domestic use of coal in electricity generation, altered emissions compliance standards for utilities and “challenging” geologic conditions in southern West Virginia.
Committee hearings on the Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act, or ARENA will begin in June in Washington, D.C. Capito wants it up for a vote as soon as possible.
According to Capito, ARENA fights the EPA and the President on his clean power plan.
“You can’t move forward with this if it’s going to be harmful to the economics of a state, affect the reliability and if it’s going to raise the energy prices. And, it’s going to do all three,” claimed Capito.
A WVU coal report for 2015 through 2035, says after reaching nearly 158 million short tons in 2008, West Virginia’s coal mine output has fallen in each successive year to an annual total of approximately 115 million short tons in 2014.
There’s a small predicted silver lining. Coal production in West Virginia is expected to rebound moderately between 2017 and 2020. After that, coal production is expected to fall to less than 96 million short tons in 2035.
Meanwhile, in May, miners of multiple companies operating in the Mountain State have been warned their jobs are in jeopardy.
In Monongalia County where 588 workers have been told by Murray Energy cuts are coming, will start to see them implemented between July 24 and August 17.