Nov 14, 2013 3 min read

This month marks the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. This short, poignant speech came four months after the Battle of Gettysburg – considered the high water mark of the Confederacy’s war against the Union. After Gettysburg, the South’s fate was sealed. Seventeen months after the address, Gen Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses Grant at Appomattox Court House.

What does this have to do with energy? Not much except that Consol Energy Inc. marks its 150th anniversary next year. Founded in 1860, Consol Energy delayed actual operations until 1864 because of the Civil War. By then, the war was winding down.

Consol’s history is our region’s history – as Consol Energy has always been here; producing the energy that this region and America needs.

Maybe that is why it was a shock to some when the company announced last month the sale of its West Virginia mines near the Pennsylvania border to Murray Energy. I say shock, not surprise, because the company announced earlier that it was considering a major restructuring.

If you follow energy, you know these are tough times for U.S. coal producers. The industry’s biggest customers are domestic electricity producers. They use more than 90 percent of U.S. coal. A sluggish economy (and resulting reduced demand for electricity), the Obama Administration’s aggressive efforts to reduce air emissions from coal-fired power plants and low natural gas prices have created the perfect storm of negative impacts for coal producers.

Many analysts expect the next decade to be a period of negative or no growth in domestic coal demand. What drives coal producers crazy is that while the U.S. seems determined to reduce its use of coal, the rest of the world seems determined to increase it. Energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie expects coal to surpass oil as the key fuel for the global economy by 2020.

Consol Energy is a growth-oriented company. Couple that strategic goal with the coal industry’s market outlook and the recent announcement makes perfect sense. Domestic coal is not likely to grow, so the company sells the mines that serve the domestic market. International coal (and coking coal) demand is expected to grow, so Consol holds on to the mines whose coal international customers want – mines with good logistical access to global markets. And, of course, the company will continue its natural gas growth strategy.

Nonetheless, when a major corporate fixture in our region changes direction, the rest of us tend to be concerned. But that worry is unfounded. Remember, Consol Energy did not close these mines – it sold them to a substantial coal operator committed to serving the domestic market. That means miners will continue to work and mines will continue to buy products and services from companies in our region (like Consol’s Fairmont Supply subsidiary). Most important, it means the substantial economic activity that has benefited our region for decades will continue.

Murray Energy is not Consol. There will be changes. But Murray Energy did not buy these mines to close them. And that is the essential point.

We wish both companies great success as their success will always be our region’s success as well.

Jeff Kotula is president of the Wahsington County Chamber of Commerce.