North Dakota senator to push again for clean coal legislation

NACCO Industries

25/02/2015 23:24

By Ernest Scheyder 
    WILLISTON, N.D., Feb 25 (Reuters) - Senator Heidi Heitkamp 
of North Dakota will re-introduce legislation on Thursday 
designed to encourage the development of clean coal technologies 
that could keep the fuel a key source of American power 
generation.  
    The bill, which is likely to be popular in the 
Republican-controlled U.S. Senate but face opposition from the 
White House, would offer financial incentives for utilities to 
develop carbon storage programs and build out the market to sell 
carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery. 
    "This kind of bill offers a glimpse into what we think could 
be a path forward for coal," Heitkamp, a Democrat first elected 
in 2012, told Reuters. "You don't abandon a reliable fuel source 
like coal." 
    The bill would provide $10.23 billion through 2036 in tax 
credits, bonds and low-cost loans. Carbon dioxide is emitted 
when coal is burned, contributing to one of the largest U.S. 
sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Collecting it removes much 
of its environment impact.   
    "When you don't have national investment, ratepayers and 
shareholders bear the brunt of perfecting this technology," said 
Heitkamp, who was a director of the Great Plains Synfuels Plant, 
which converts coal to natural gas, from 2001 through 2012. 
    The bill would help safeguard the coal industry from new 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards that some fear 
could prevent any new coal-fired power plants from being built. 
 ID:nL1N0SN2E6      
    Heitkamp proposed a nearly identical bill last year that 
died in the Senate's finance committee. Virginia Democrat Tim 
Kaine is again a co-sponsor of the legislation. 
    Coal is used to produce about 38 percent of U.S. power, but 
has slowly been replaced in recent years by increasingly cheap 
natural gas. Heitkamp said it behooves power generators not to 
eschew coal completely given the historical price fluctuations 
in gas. 
    After Australia, North Dakota has the world's largest 
reserves of lignite, a type of coal used to produce electricity. 
Westmoreland Coal Co  WLB.O , Falkirk Mining Co and NACCO 
Industries Inc  NC.N  are among the state's larger coal miners. 
    Heitkamp's bill would encourage utilities - including North 
Dakota's MDU Resources Group  MDU.N  - to develop and use clean 
coal technologies. 
    "This bill gives us confidence that we'll continue to be 
able to use coal in the future," said Steve Tomas of Basin 
Electric, another North Dakota utility.  
    North Dakota produces 80 percent of its electricity from 
coal. Wind and hydro produce the rest. 
    Wyoming is the largest U.S. coal producer.  
 
 (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Leslie Adler) 
 ((ernest.scheyder@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @ErnestScheyder; 
+1-701-609-5790; Reuters Messaging: 
ernest.scheyder.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: NORTH DAKOTA COAL/