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Bill Purvis
Tom Johnson
Carol Raulston

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 10, 2002

RELIANCE ON U.S. COAL MODERATED LAST YEAR'S POWER DISRUPTIONS

Charleston - Increased reliance on coal for electric power limited the reach of last winter's brownouts and moderated the spike in natural gas prices, Thomas H. Altmeyer, senior vice president of the National Mining Association told the 29th West Virginia Coal Symposium here today.

Altmeyer's analysis was drawn from a comparison of power statistics that cover the first nine months of 2001, the most complete currently available, and the matching periods from 1999 and 2000.

"This two-year span takes in both the boom times and the onset of the recession," Altmeyer said, "gives play to both low and high energy prices. There was a collapse of hydropower and a rise in overall demand through the period that combined to require an additional 160 billion kilowatt-hours from the other forms of generation - an amount of power slightly larger than the yearly output of Sweden."

Forty percent of the added requirement was met by increased coal generation, 31 percent by natural gas generation and 21 percent by higher nuclear output.

Without the diversity and flexibility of coal in the power mix, Altmeyer went on, the national economy would have experienced wider and more troublesome shortfalls of power than in California; the price of natural gas for power generation might have spiked earlier and higher; while recession might have come on earlier, run deeper and lasted longer.

"Some experts argue that last year's shock from rising natural gas and oil prices had as much to do with the onset of the recession as anything else," Altmeyer continued, adding that from the time of the Arab Oil Embargo on every serious dislocation in oil and gas has precipitated a recession. "Modern economies are energy-sensitive," he explained.

"Early figures for the full year, "he went on, "suggest the power-burn for 2001 may well set a new record and will approach, if not pass, 1-billion tons. We're looking at record demand despite a recession, despite mild weather that moderated demand, and despite lower gas prices.

"This performance shows coal is the real diversity and reliability in America's power supply - the timely response, the curative response and the preventive response," Altmeyer concluded.

He urged the West Virginia coal industry to join in rallying support for Congressional passage of a National Energy Strategy this year.