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n e w s c o n t i n u e d 10 www.coalage.com February 2016 LG&E; and KU have not yet awarded final contracts off a for- mal high-sulfur coal solicitation last fall for up to 3 million tons for several years starting in 2017. The coal will be bought for the utilities' four major baseload coal plants totaling more than 5,000 megawatts; 1,932-megawatt Ghent, 1,472-megawatt Mill Creek, 1,274-megawatt Trimble County, and 739-megawatt E.W. Brown. Last year, LG&E; and KU retired about 800 megawatts, or 13%, of their coal-fired generation when the Cane Run, Green River and Tyrone plants were shuttered, mainly because of the federal Environmental Protection Agency's new pollution rules. In their place, the utilities completed construction last sum- mer on Kentucky's first combined-cycle natural gas plant, 640- megawatt, $563 million Cane Run Unit No. 7 near Louisville. Altogether, LG&E; and KU serve about 1.2 million customers. They owned almost 8,000 megawatts of generation, mostly coal- fired. Rosebud Could Recall Miners Soon Rosebud Mining Co. hopes to resume production sometime in February at the roughly 20 small underground steam coal mines in western Pennsylvania it temporarily idled in early January because of a reduced demand for electricity resulting from mild weather in late 2015. Jim Barker, vice president of the Kittanning, Pennsylvania- based privately owned company, said it is Rosebud's intent to restart most of the mines, 11 of which are in Indiana County, b u t a f i n a l d e c i s i o n w o u l d d e p e n d o n m a r k e t c o n d i t i o n s including a decrease in utility customer and Rosebud coal i n v e n t o r i e s . N R G E n e r g y ' s 1 , 8 8 4 - m e g a w a t t H o m e r C i t y Generating Station in Indiana County is among Rosebud's largest customers. The idlings affected 429 employees, about half of the compa- ny's approximately 850-person workforce. Rosebud's three underground mines in eastern Ohio have continued to operate. R o s e b u d h a s b e e n a r e l i a b l e r e g i o n a l c o a l p r o d u c e r f o r years, since its founding in East Brady, Pennsylvania, in 1979. The company normally produces about 7 million tons of coal annually, virtually all from underground, continuous miner operations. Rosebud has not indicated when it will move forward with development of its newest coal mine, Ginger Bend in Belmont a n d G u e r n s e y c o u n t i e s i n O h i o . T h e u n d e r g r o u n d m i n e received a final permit in December from the Ohio Division of Mineral Resources Management (ODMRM). It is expected to produce at least 1 million tons a year, making it one of the company's largest mines, according to an ODMRM official. In late December, Alpha Natural Resources said it complet- ed the sale of its Amfire Mining Co. subsidiary to Rosebud for approximately $80 million, including $75 million in cash and the assumption of certain liabilities. Amfire Mining has 10 mines and four prep plants and loadouts in Pennsylvania's C a m b r i a , C e n t r e , C l e a r f i e l d , E l k , G r e e n e , I n d i a n a a n d Somerset counties. Rosebud has made similar acquisitions during the past decade. In 2010, it purchased the assets of Buckeye Industrial M i n i n g o f L i s b o n , O h i o , a t r a n s a c t i o n t h a t e x p a n d e d R o s e b u d ' s r e s e r v e h o l d i n g s i n t o C o l u m b i a n a , S t a r k a n d Jefferson counties in Ohio. I n l a t e 2 0 1 1 , t h e P e n n s y l v a n i a D e p a r t m e n t o f Environmental Protection issued an air permit to TJS Mining, acquired by Rosebud on December 31, 2010, for its 420,000- t o n - p e r - y e a r T J S N o . 6 p r e p p l a n t i n A r m s t r o n g C o u n t y , Pennsylvania. In January 2011, Rosebud bought Action Mining and its related companies in Somerset County. Action consisted of seven surface mines in the county and a tipple on the CSX Railroad near Meyersdale. Solar Sources Manages Through the Trough Officials with small Illinois Basin steam coal producer Solar Sources can be forgiven if the company's production forecast for 2016 seems like that old quote attributed to the late New York Yankees' baseball star and "philosopher" Yogi Berra — "It's like deja vu all over again." If this year follows true to form, then the privately owned Indianapolis-based company will sell out the approximately 2 million tons or so it plans to produce before the curtain falls on 2016. Felson Bowman, Solar's founder decades ago and chair- man, is not complaining, given the many challenges facing the industry. "We've got some long-term contracts and we're picking up some smaller orders," Bowman said in January. Historically, Solar has sold coal to U.S. electric utilities, par- ticularly those operating in its home base of the Midwest. Many u t i l i t i e s i n t h e r e g i o n a r e l o c a t e d i n t h e M i d c o n t i n e n t Independent System Operator region, a Carmel, Indiana-based regional grid operator, where coal-burning generation still accounts for more than 50% of total output, much higher than coal's roughly 30% share nationally. Rosebud Mining's mine No. 78 prep plant began operations in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in 2008.