Energy transition

8,000 coal workers lost their jobs in the last year, and five coal companies have gone bankrupt in the past five months.

Despite the pandemic, the Roundhouse Wind Energy Project has increased annual tax revenues by 20% in Laramie County and the city of Cheyenne.

Joined by leading scholars and advocates, Johns discusses the Navajo Nation’s historical relationship to coal and their current efforts to achieve a just transition.

The $60 billion plan—developed by mayors from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia—calls for increased federal investment in clean energy-based economic and workforce development to help heartland communities dependent on fossil fuel industries.

“We’ve taken great pride in powering America for generations, and we believe that federal commitments and investment will bring our new vision to fruition. This new way of thinking and working will once again bring employment opportunities back to the heart of the Appalachian Mountains.”

“Indeed, what scares many of these communities is the demonization from and lack of dialogue with mainstream environmentalists. They deeply fear being left behind by the energy transition, and that has become one of the motivating factors for places like Emery County to innovate with carbon capture and energy storage.”

Some West Virginians worry about Biden’s impact on fossil fuel industries, while others see a new opportunity to expand federal support for transitioning communities.

Securitization and other financing tools can help ease the energy transition for states and utilities, but they must be designed to address worker and community needs.

As Indiana coal plants close, environmental justice advocates want decision-makers to hear from communities harmed by decades of coal-related pollution.

As three coal plants and mines wind down, a plan for what comes next.

“I want to stay. I just love it here. I don’t know what living here is going to look like or how I’m going to provide income for myself and my family...But I just love the area even though we’re on such a downhill when it comes to [things] economically.”

Policy hurdles prevent schools and other public institutions in Southwest Virginia from adopting solar energy and capturing its economic benefits.

Tourism, retail, and real estate markets have grown in the town of Craig, providing a spark to its transition planning efforts.

While proponents cite local coal job retention, others are skeptical of high costs and impacts on nearby people and environments.

Despite challenges of its own, the country’s approach to phasing out coal is a useful guide to how the United States can ensure a just transition for workers and communities.

“The question is whether we watch passively from the sidelines or try to direct this once-in-a-lifetime transition in ways that are efficient for energy producers, affordable for energy consumers, fair for workers, and sustainable in our use of earth’s resources.”

“Those most affected by coal’s collapse don’t have to be collateral damage in the transition to renewable energy; we can be the leaders of an entirely new and better economy. In fact, I believe Appalachians have the exact skills our country will need to remain globally competitive in this new, more sustainable economy.”

For Flaccavento, the National Economic Transition platform provides the investment needed for Appalachian communities to navigate a second economic transition.

As the state’s utilities move toward renewables, recent legislation aims to keep coal in use.

As coal companies struggle to transfer their mining permits during bankruptcy, environmental liabilities are unaccounted for.

A new report says that large solar developments could create tens of thousands of jobs and billions in economic activity in the region.

“The people of Illinois have had a long-standing, proud history of providing energy for families across the state. Let’s continue our proud history by moving forward into a legacy where we can provide a just transition to a new energy economy.”

The second report in a just transition policy series analyzes the economic impacts of federal programs for environmental remediation and infrastructure.

As coal continues to decline, communities from West Virginia to Wyoming see a need for state and federal policy support.

“A national just transition policy that drives unprecedented public investment into fossil fuel-dependent communities is a moral imperative. It is also a political one if we hope to take ambitious climate action.”

The state expects to complete 96 projects, generating a total of $201 million for local economies, by the end of the year.

Local workers, residents, and leaders adjust to a changing energy landscape.

Communities in West Virginia and Wyoming are developing diverse industries based on their local strengths.

The draft plan includes recommendations for worker benefits, local transition plans, and community investment.

Local officials and nonprofits are exploring solutions to the economic impacts of future coal plant closures

"The rapidly changing energy landscape makes it critical for the burdens of fossil fuel workers and communities to be assessed in all utility planning, so that we aren’t left behind, once again."

The Powder River Basin Resource Council launched a four-part webinar series during the COVID-19 pandemic to help communities in Wyoming and beyond prepare for the ongoing transition from coal.

As the state moves to 100% renewable energy, communities that relied on coal facilities for jobs and economic growth are pushing for equity in emerging clean energy opportunities.

Two small communities are sharing $10 million in provincial-government reinvestment funds to help workers and businesses affected by the shutdown of local coal plants.

With proper resources and visionary leadership, tribal communities in northern Arizona can reinvent their economies.

“As activists, lawmakers, and communities grapple with how to handle the economic, environmental, and social changes, many are asking how we ensure that transition is just,” the author writes.

PacifiCorp is setting the industry pace in a shift toward solar and battery storage, a strategy likely to influence electricity-production companies across the board.

"The regions can use the financial support to boost the economy in a wide range of areas, such as business-related infrastructure, improving public transport, broadband infrastructure, environmental protection and landscape management.”

The transition question looms large in northern Arizona: “How to ensure positive environmental change doesn’t come at a crippling economic cost for some of America’s most marginalized communities.”

The transition to a stronger and greener economy must happen “in such a way that grows family-sustaining jobs and makes our communities healthier and more resilient.”

“The fact that coal isn’t coming back doesn’t mean that Appalachia has no future,” said Brandon Dennis, CEO of Coalfield Development Corporation, one of several community advocates who spoke to a congressional panel last week.

At the vanguard of a regional push for a “post-coal Appalachia,” the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development seeks a paradigm that is “more sustainable, more diverse, more equitable and more resilient.”

A World Bank report underscores the role of public policy in managing a post-coal transition, concluding that governments must bear costs “of physical closure of mines and labor transition programs.”

A labor leader lauds Denver’s mayor for an initiative that aims to make the city a renewable energy bastion over the next generation, but urges leaders to invest in rural communities, too, where railroad employees, pipe fitters and power plant specialists are being displaced by the electricity-production transition occurring nationally. “Workers who have toiled in the mines, hauled our coal, and operated our power plants for decades deserve our support as we move towards new ways of generating energy,” writes Joshua Downer of the AFL-CIO.

JTF, long active in Appalachia and in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana, sees the Illinois Basin, which underlies much of the state, as an area of growing need. “It’s important to note that what a just transition looks like is different in different places,” said Heidi Binko, JTF’s executive director.

A recent industry survey has 80 percent of 600 utility executives in the U.S. and Canada expecting electricity generation markets to continue to embrace clean energy models in a move driven by business practicalities. “Programs to help customers save energy, and solar and wind energy are cheaper in most places than almost any other resource to meet customer energy needs, including coal and gas, and getting cheaper all the time,” writes the author.

Energy Transition Openings Now in the Four-Corners Region of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah

PPL, the company that owns Kentucky Utilities and Louisville Gas and Electric has published a transition analyst in which it sees natural gas and renewables accounting for 80 percent of its electricity: “Just by virtue of [economics], you’re going to have substantial reductions and when you look out to 2050, substantial retirements of our coal-fired units will have happened by then.”

Virginia lags its neighboring states in embracing transformational market forces and developing a modern energy economy. “We already know what the status quo costs our communities. But we haven’t seen what happens when we invest in local advanced energy businesses and jobs.”

An op-ed writer in New Mexico makes the case against utility monopoly control of fast-growing solar energy resources: “The promise of the advanced energy economy goes beyond a cleaner environment and more sustainable power—it’s also about building a more diversified, resilient and competitive economy.”

While a hearing this week on repeal of the federal Clean Power Plant drew vocal support in West Virginia, some residents used it as an opportunity to talk about a post-coal future. “People in Appalachia are starting to realize that we need to start thinking about additional ways to have economic development and economic activity,” says the director of Energy Efficient West Virginia. “While coal is going to continue to be part of the economy, I don’t think that anybody is under the illusion that it is going to be the main driver of the economy.”

The Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative, which includes 22 school districts, is promoting new possibilities for a region that has been overly reliant on coal mining. “It’s called the resource curse in economics … When you have a company town, what tends to happen over time is you crowd out the potential of other industry to make a case for their future.”

PUSH Buffalo, a community group focused on urban development, is promoting career development in the growing clean energy economy “as the world moves to more efficient, renewable, distributed energy sources.”

Three members of Congress are co-sponsoring the America Wins Act, a proposal to invest $1 trillion in U.S. infrastructure with a special focus on communities hard hit by the coal industry downturn. The bill would be funded by a tax on carbon emissions, and would earmark $5 billion a year for economic transition.

“‘Sometimes you have to let go of your past’ to prepare for the future’” said one member of a panel of utility executives who see “a tremendous movement away from coal.” Among the companies represented this week at a Florida forum hosted by the Edison Electric Institute: PNM of New Mexico, Hawaii Electric Industries, El Paso Electric and Alliant Energy of Wisconsin.

The challenges facing Colstrip, Mont., are a microcosm of those seen in similar communities nationally: “Coal states across the country face a similar future, and while heel-dragging may help coal company owners maximize their profit in the short-term, it does nothing for coal miners and their families.”

Homer City, Penn., is typical of communities facing difficult economic transition as its coal-fired power plant, faces likely closure. “Reality has triumphed over wishful thinking,” says one local coal broker.

Major companies in Ohio, an important consumer of Appalachian coal, are fighting a legislative proposal to slow the state’s transition to clean energy. Among them: Gap Inc., Ikea North America, Nestle, and Cliff Bar & Co. Ohio has also become a hotbed for companies that are turning entirely to renewable energy, including Facebook and General Motors.

The president of an upstate New York teachers’ association explains how the town of Tonawanda united educational interests, government leaders, labor, and other activists “to close the revenue gap” after NRG closed the Huntley Power Generating Station.