Capitol hill studio by the Deputy Editor of the provincial energy news from the coal industry is in the United States what are the main types of coal mined in the United States . You to go from black to brown song that is mined in eastern pennsylvania is the not as much now. And then that type that is used for power plants than the type that is more brown and has less ability to produce energy but it is used in north dakota lot so that ranges to their different based and what part of the country. You talk about their ranges of coal talk about the mines. A lot of people assume all coal mines are power plants. But there are a lot of minds and there is the big marketlants for our metallurgical coal you estimate coal and steel and iron. A lot of the exports of overseas are for that metallurgical coal. It is and the power plant regulations but how much countries are developing and how much steel bidi to build there is speculation is our today our guest this morning should note that as we talk about the subject we have special phone lines would to hear your comments or if a. M. Remembers Manuel Quinones we talk about the coals and the mine talk about the power plant itself where will you find coal power plants in the United States . Theyre all over the country but there is a lot where the coal is to have analfired power plants indiana, ohio and relying on the coalfired power western states Southern States so that runs the gamut that if you look at the ohio valley that historically has been called heavy because it is easy to transport with rivers and real but to beos distributed around the country but a lot of states have tried to move away from coal because of the Market Conditions and regulations a lot of power plants have been shifting away and so they have shrunk. R so now were showing the u. S. Energy information with the bottom different maps and charts. But the cost of coal and how it is used a different power plants . The biggest selling point is that coal is cheap in nonvolatile in price. If would have to look at a chart over time surprisingly little volatility than not only the price of the coal itself but what it takes the cost to produce energy out of that coal. Storic and that has been lower than other fuel sources of Natural Gas Prices have come down dramatically because of the shale discoveries in pennsylvania and elsewhere so now it is cheaper to burn gas and coal. The coal industry will tell you over time gas prices have been more volatile file but in recent years they have been cheap and we have such an abundance of gas but then there is regulation gas is cheaper with more regulation on coal. This chart from the u. S. Energy information shows the annual share of Electricity Generation the black line at the top is cool with its share as a percentage of u. S. Electricity generation in the 50s it was over 50 percent and then started to go down in the 90s and now we see the orange line is the line for natural gas starting to pick up at the same time. So they are a competitor to call . Definitely now when gasue surpassed coal that was ail big milestone. At first it started to surpass slightly ben cole was dominant but the trend is for more renewals and forecast it is for gas andd coal to retail large chunks of the market as it will u take more of the marketplace and we will see that. He mentioned the Regulatory Regime is coal more heavily regulated than others . That is an interesting question. The Obama Administration moved to increase regulations on coal and were talking from lines to power plants and in some ways develop regulations that encourage more natural gas used because the trump T Administration is trying to reverse that to encourage them to use power plants to use gas where before it made it more difficult for them to use coal. But natural gas is heavily regulated because when youd burn it when coal is more polluting then it is more stringent. Covering the coal industry for how many years now . Six years. Check out his work and here to answer your questions as to start this discussion today on the coal industry may want to hear your stories we will start in new york city. Caller good morning. Thank you for dedicating some time to this issue of Natural Resources and our energy. I have i have a comment and question. Listening to government empire jersey sinn how coal is used, the president rolls back the obama regulations regulations, it seems like were trying to bring back course san buggey technology with the Auto Industry but i dont understand why it is such a dated technology is something that is debated and we dont put enough emphasis on more technologically advanced Energy Sources. So my question is is the industry in that much of a power role of the American Energy field where they are retarding development for business . I heard you say call is relatively inexpensive but is the industry really Holding Back Development so much on the profits that they ignore technology . Guest it is an interesting question because to the first part a lot of people in the coal industry will say it is the conception of technologyvery because until very recently when we saw the numbers go down it wasnt dominant then when we had the energy shock the u. S. Government promoted the use of coal because they thought it was so abundant but especially since passing those environmental rules there has been a lot of technological audiences in how the coal is burned with more efficient power plantsamout and that shows the same amount of electricity at the same time the industry has been very active to lobby against environmental regulations they tend not to be very friendly to government subsidies but at the same time theyre fighting for the government to focus on these developing technologies to trap Greenhouse Gas emissions in the industry will tell you if you let the market decide then win or lose based on the market what they dont want is the government to tip the scales when there is a potential for technology. Talk about Clean Coal Technology what part of that process . It is a myriad of technologies. Yriad power plants that are dramatically more efficientgas o to turn coal into gas. But in washington policy circles basically youre talking about carbon catcher captures sequestrationla they burn it that the power plant trap the curb emissions and store them underground or use them to enhance Old Oil Wells are used fertilizer that is something the obamaso administration and the Trump Administration is working but it is extremely expensive and especially you have utilities for what you invest more in theseor t technologies . They say it cost this amount why should i . Good morning. I am loving the show right now so trump said he promised to bring back the coal miner jobs that we have the opportunity can they force us. Even during the campaign would say he libbing that colt even the most ardent kohls supporters said you shouldnt make such promises because most independent analyst will tell you things will not go back to the way they used to be. Right now a lot of Coal Mining Companies are reporting a surge people areha coming in but a lot of that was expected because we had a strong bottom. But in reality the trouble administration has moved to roll back regulations so wery could see some effect but when it comes to big job gains even they will live mitt they cannot return to where they used to be used to have tens of thousands ofof jobs. Maybe we will get more but not to where it used to me. Host has the trumpmpabout Wh Administration say when there is a bump . If you talk about those regulations . If people see that bob . Not really. On they move to the clean power plant with Greenhouse Gases that the same time that rule was stayed by the courts and not effect some coal miners said that was destiny but it never had a chance to go into effect with congress and President Trump rescinded it so that increased safety regulations those have gone into effect for years but you can tell how much they will make a difference either withdrawal and investment it to make a difference but actually on the ground it removed that. With the information that came out last friday the First Quarter of 201,772,600ow jobs down in the First Quarter of 2016 from 78,900 jobs in the United States. We will talk about those and the people in industry space to hear from the coal miners and their families. Maryland good morning. Caller i would like to make three comments. The first is the one thing that i realize they dont actually dont live in the area that control the power plants so all the waste that goes into the water that is my first comment i dont care so much that coal is cheap but the members of Congress Just passed a billill, that has 3 billion for the care of coal miners. I am sure the government will not take care of my medical needs with the Coal Companies and not take the lead on carrying for this pretty dangerous job. Will last comment is i have mentioned this before but sometimes to counter this information to fact check it is easy people to get on the phone to the effects of the environment and pollutionmist ad but nobody talks about these things. Stick around we will have a lot of different gaston this topic including a ceo who lives in the area at 8 00 the local congressmen from eastern ohio and bill johnson will join us and also the vice director from the ohio Valley Commission will join us then six generation coal miner will be with us live that isns happening at 930 this morning live you may be interested to see those guest but talking about the Miners Health care bill . That is a good wind up. First i want to address what you brought up with those environmentalists point even the ceos who lived in the area sometimes and they come to capitol hill they say that this has been tainted it doesnt seem to make the big difference in the political discussion. And those for recreation it doesnt seem to make that much of a difference. But it is fairly complicated basically United Mine Workers of america have a health care plant and they were in peril. With pro Union Lawmakers to have Congress Step bin in for the benefit plan. Because they had to ring pension and health care was too much and republicans were skeptical of doing both. Pporte supporters will tell you there is a promise made to nicole miners and the unions for the government to back out that goes back to truman and with negotiations. Ce the f and since then the federal government has stepped in to backstop those benefits during amendments a couple decades ago to extend a program and then they made a formula with a cut of the interest dollars and ended up not being done with theno downturn of the market so then congress had to step in again the there has been a big discussion of congress should have done this but did the and miners persisted and this has gone on for years but only recently did they get their Health Benefits. We have just a couple minutes left with Manuel Quinones then we will go to tallahassee point ohio for several interviews with topics of the coal industry is a trans loading facility a transfer point from the mine in ohio to the poweroh plant up and down the ohio river where the call comes in in addition to those power plants one of those individuals is the harborid manager we went to show viewers an interview we did recently in which he describes what actually happened each day at thens facility there spinnaker have a trans loading facility that goes by train down to the harbor by trains it is loaded on to the barges what we have realized years ago is barge transportation is the most efficient way the matter what product it is and i can put it into perspective. We lota barge here in about 40 minutes that is 1700 tons of coal. When they leave the harbor there is usually 15 that are tied together and then to go further into perspective it would take 150 coal trucksndred to come up with that much gold to deliver at one timeus that we can do that with three barges in one boat. How many spots to they cover up and down the ohio river . Varies sometimes as many as 60 or 70 barges per loade. And the harbor at a time but the furthest power plant is probably inside of 400 miles from here which will take the kultur three days to get there by water but still it is quicker than if you try to use the roads. How much coal comes to this point on a daily basis . Between 25 and 30 tons of coal will come through here on a daily basis. Host how many people does it take to move that . Very minimal. We have an operator we usem on our pile and we have a crew like ted deckhand and the 4 million 4 million and also the operator and maintenance people so it doesnt take a lot of people to do what we do for the amount of coal that we ship. Host that is where we will be for most of the restro of the days program but we will have water to more calls with Manuel Quinones he is here with us at the desk in washington d. C. Good morning. We were a coal mining family over 30 years and my husbandintn was the superintendent andthe he was devoted to the people of the area of Southeastern Ohio just like a doctor if it went down for two hours day or night he got up and went back out. I was the mother of two children almost like a widow because he was so devoted one time i said why do you do that . He said there are so many families in the industry that when i leave my family to get it back up to stay in production i am an advocate for hundreds of families in this area. Now that coal mine is shut down. Ent ba i went up a few months ago to that area is poverty and welfare. When people say the industry dont ever want them to forget these people try to put their kids through college which we did with two children, tried to have the life to flip on a switch a i in oregon or california is alive and advocate because there are families it is in the industry. Banks for the call. First i want to expound that is the machine underground that basically pushes against the wall of the scene to shear the callt off and puts it on the Conveyor Belt bin ships about it is very impressive. But to the broader point people talk about how in recent years they have fallen of abundance in theun grand scheme of things but no even coal producers say it is just a fraction of them so why do we worry so much about them . But what she colored for us is it is in peoples blood, it is their culture and heritage and has a long history so it is hard for people to say lets move on. That has provided a good living they make pretty good money from places away from the big metro area. Es host Deputy EditorManuel Quinones we appreciate your time. We have been showing you images from the trans Loading Center of the ohio river just across the river you can see the power plants on by American Electric power as well we have a Senior Vice President ofse commercial operations which owns those plants that joins us now. Good morning. Good morning. How many power plants do you operate and how many customers does it provide electricity . We serve 5. 4 million customers across our area as number of plants is a little more difficult to nail down with the technology changedno now that we invest with wind turbine and solar but we have passed the capacity of 3. One gigawatt hours potentially 175 units. Host how many of thoseho are coalfired . About 47 of the generated capacity is cold. We see camera station in mitchells power plant . Yes that is the one you see nothing coming out the other ec water vapor with the modern technology that we install on the plant. Why is there nothing comes out . Relate what you see across the river is the transition that has occurrede ce this was a group of plants that we shut down in 2015 they were over 50 years old and due to environmental regulation that came down the pike we could not justify to afford though wet scrubbers on the plants. What will happen to tha facility . It will be dismantled and r hopefully be purchased to bring a industrial customer to a the area. Senior Vice President is joining us you can see some of the plants were talking about. Can you explain how coal power plants works for the viewers . Guest leer on the ohio river many of the plants like the mitchell plan and receives i Conveyor Belt by a neighboring coal maya lin negative as well as barge and rail. So we bring that cold into the plant and store it and there are several days ofar inventory in the front yard so we grind that to fine powder and transfer that heaped to steam or highpressure steam with the steam turbines to drive the generators then we send it through to remove thee nitrous oxide then it goes through the wet scrubber that causes the water vaporin t and we inject limestone that reacts with the sulfur dioxide to foreign ships some gypsum that is a chalky substance people know that is the chalky substance of the walls of the house the ship that across the street to the plant thenos that goes across theon construction industry. Host as you look at that over your shoulder how many people work at the michel station today . Approximately to 020 permanent workers then during the year