Loss of coal jobs slows in Eastern Kentucky; production up slightly statewide | Lexington Herald Leader

Coal jobs and production continued to decline in Eastern Kentucky in the three-month period from July through September, but the losses were not as large as in some recent periods, according to a report released Monday.

Statewide production went up, driven by a significant increase in Western Kentucky.

The increased tonnage did not prevent an overall loss in jobs, however.

Employment at coal mines and facilities went down 4.3 percent in Eastern Kentucky and 3.7 percent in Western Kentucky compared to the prior three-month period.

The overall employment decline statewide was 4.1 percent, according to the report from the Energy and Environment Cabinet.

Companies likely haven’t yet added many employees to deal with increased production because of uncertainty over whether the gains will last, officials said.

“They don’t know what the future holds. You may have an abundant order this week and next week it may drop,” said Lisa Estep, economic development director for Pike County, whose husband operates a coal company.

Estimated employment statewide as of Oct. 1 was 6,254 — 3,653 in Eastern Kentucky and 2,601 in the western coalfield.

That was the lowest statewide number since the late 1800s. The average annual employment in Eastern Kentucky was 13,579 in 2011, before a sharp drop started in 2012.

On the production side, Kentucky’s mines produced 2.9 percent more tons of coal between July 1 and Sept. 30 than in the prior quarter.

Production rose 8.9 percent in Western Kentucky, more than canceling a decline of 5.9 percent in the state’s eastern coalfield.

Production went up in nearly every county in Western Kentucky, but Eastern Kentucky had scattered gains and losses.

Production went up 27 percent in Pike County, for instance, but down 20 percent in Perry

Still, the decline in Eastern Kentucky was far lower than earlier in the year, when production plummeted 21.6 percent in the first three months of the year and 14.6 percent in the second quarter.

Bill Bissett, president of the Kentucky Coal Association, said hot summer weather was one factor in the increased production.

Utilities burned through their stockpiles to produce electricity and need to replenish for the winter. The industry thinks the production numbers bode well for the fourth quarter.

“We’re seeing some cautiously positive indicators,” Bissett said.

Federal analysts do not estimate Eastern Kentucky’s coal industry will ever regain the production and employment of just a few years ago.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects a small, short-lived uptick in production in the coal basin that includes Eastern Kentucky beginning in a couple of years, followed by continued decline over 20 years.

A number of factors have sapped demand for Kentucky coal, including tougher federal rules to protect air and water quality and competition for power-plant customers from cheap natural gas and cheaper coal.

Eastern Kentucky also faces a challenge because many of the thick, easy-to-reach seams have been mined out, creating higher costs to recover what’s left.

Appalachian coal production will decline even in the absence of the current administration’s signature plan to cut carbon-dioxide emissions from existing power plants, called the Clean Power Plan, the EIA projected.

It’s a different story in the coal basin that includes Western Kentucky, called the Interior, which also includes parts of Illinois, Indiana and other states.

The agency projected that production in the region would go up by 86 million million tons by 2040 without the Clean Power Plan but only by 5 million tons with it. The plan is on hold because of a court challenge.