US Energy Coal Policy Running Amok

I don't even know where to begin; I don't have a dog in this fight. I am simply a spectator. A spectator who is watching US policy run amok.

Read this article a couple of times. See how many story lines you can find. I find this paragraph particularly interesting:

In Pennsylvania, Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane said her office had been flooded with complaints from consumers whose utility bills had soared, in some cases tripling.

In Rhode Island, the utility National Grid received permission for a 12.1 percent electricity rate increase in January, nearly all of it because of higher prices for the gas used to make electricity.

This article is not in a "coal" journal. It's not from Rigzone. It's not from the Oil & Gas Journal. The article is from The New York Times. The editors won't admit it but they are finally starting to get it.

Going forward the incumbents have three problems:

• ObamaCare
• high utility costs
• unemployment/underemployment and 99+ week-benefits not renewed

The article tries to extend this energy problem to the entire United States; to some extent it is true. But right now it's hitting the northeast hard.

In New York, Con Edison increased the price of each kilowatt-hour about 16 percent this month compared to last year. And in Ohio, energy retailers will demand higher prices from customers like Ms. Cundiff when annual contracts are renewed.

No war on coal? LOL.

Underlying the growing concern among consumers and regulators is a second phenomenon that could lead to even bigger price increases: Scores of old coal-fired power plants in the Midwest will close in the next year or so because of federal pollution rules intended to cut emissions of mercury, chlorine and other toxic pollutants. Still others could close because of a separate rule to prevent the damage that cooling water systems inflict on marine life.

So, we will see what next winter brings. Let's keep our fingers crossed it's not frigid weather caused by global warming.

For utilities, another frigid winter like this one could lead to a squeeze in supply, making it harder — and much more expensive — to supply power to consumers during periods of peak demand.

By the way, I don't know what the writers mean by "for utilities." The utilities will do just fine. The consumers won't. 

By the way, if folks think utility costs are high in Rhode Island right now, wait until the incumbents vote to increase renewable energy requirements:

• Rhode Island: ranks 39th among US states; less than 1% of total energy needs provided by wind.

Wind costs significantly more than either coal or natural gas.