LOGAN UTILITIES CHIEF SEEKS CONTRACT FOR
COAL-FUELED POWER FROM DELTA
(Source: Associated Press, Salt Lake Tribune, 3/06/07)

LOGAN - The city's utility chief is recommending a long-term contract for coal-fired power from a central Utah plant.

Other communities, especially in California, are backing out, searching instead for electricity made from a cleaner source. But the director of Logan City Power and Light said his utility needs power and could save millions over three decades by investing now.

''Whether or not Logan participates or does not participate at all will not change the fact that it's going to be built,'' Jay Larsen said.

''Does Logan want to take advantage of the many years of investments we've made in that plant or not? That's really the bottom line,'' he said.

Intermountain Power Agency plans to build a 900-megawatt power plant, its third, in Delta and will pay for it by signing long-term contracts with cities across the West. Thirty-three have signed up, Larsen said.

Logan would pay about $58 million to help build the new plant. In return, the city gets access to 20 megawatts of electricity, enough to light about 14,000 homes.

Logan already buys 44 megawatts of power from the power agency. By 2012, Larsen said he anticipates demand will jump to about 120 megawatts from 90 megawatts.

It's unknown when the Municipal Council will vote on the issue.

If a cleaner, renewable power source can be found, the city could sell a portion of its coal-fired electricity to other communities, Larsen said.

In November, Pasadena, Anaheim and other California cities said they would not be renewing contracts with Intermountain Power when they expire in 2027. A state law there requires utilities to get 20 percent of their power from renewable energy by 2010.

The new power plant is scheduled to be ready by 2011.

MINE PROPOSAL WORRIES THOSE IN TOURISM TRADE
(Source: Mark Havnes, Salt Lake Tribune, 3/11/07)

PANGUITCH - The boutique businesses along southern Utah's Heritage Highway - from quaint B&Bs offering cozy quarters to stylish studios peddling pottery and nifty shops hawking Western wear - count on traffic to boost their profits.

They want antiquing traffic. They want tourist traffic. They want foot traffic. They want the retiring baby boomers who yearn to travel the back highways of America in their leisure years.

They don't want truck traffic. Big-truck traffic. But that's what they would have to endure - every four minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year - if a coal mine opens near Alton in Kane County.

"Ninety-five percent of my business is from tourism, with 65 percent of that being repeat customers," says Becky Yard, who owns Cowboy Collectibles in Panguitch. "The trucks would mean new customers would stop just one time."

Yard and other business owners along U.S. 89 in Panguitch and Hatch are banding together in hopes of preventing approval of the mine and a steady stream of coal-hauling semis rumbling back and forth along the Heritage Highway between Alton and State Route 20 in order to reach Interstate 15 and a loading facility near Cedar City.

The mine may stoke Kane County's bottom line, but shop owners worry the resulting truck caravan will lead to more accidents and scare off tourists who power Garfield County's service economy.

"It would take away from what is here and why we are here," warns Peggy Egan, who owns a bed-and-breakfast in Panguitch.

She notes many outsiders have moved to town, bought some of Main Street's old brick buildings and converted them into businesses.

"Several of the buildings that have been restored would have been torn down," Egan says.

Others are swooping in to retire or buy second homes.

"In a four-block area, 12 homes were purchased by outsiders, most for second homes," she says. "They have a lot of discretionary money. That means they could go anywhere they want. They don't have to come to 'Truck Town.' "

Yard came to Panguitch from Southern California six years ago to open Cowboy Collectibles, which sells Western goods from saddles to replicas of the flint-blade knives once crafted by American Indians.

She and her husband, Randy, have taken to Panguitch, recently listed (the whole town) on the National Register of Historic Places. They volunteer for community projects, participate in civic groups, attend City Council meetings and even donated land and Old West memorabilia for a park next to their store.

Not in their plans: semi after semi pulling coal-laden double trailers and threatening, as they see it, their livelihoods. So they and other business owners are urging city leaders in Panguitch and nearby Hatch to oppose the coal mine.

Alton Coal Development wants permission to mine 2,600 acres sandwiched between the Kane County farming community of Alton and Bryce Canyon National Park.

The company is paying consultants, hired by the Bureau of Land Management, to help prepare an environmental impact statement on the project. The public-comment portion of the study, which could take a year, wrapped up last month (a sore spot with some because many shop owners leave for the winter months).

Project manager Alan Childs says he met recently with residents of Hatch and Panguitch during a Garfield County Commission meeting.

"It's early in the process so there are a lot of misconceptions," Childs says. "We [the company] aren't like the bubonic plague coming through town."

He says the trucking plan represents a "worst-case scenario."

"We have a few options."

Childs says those options could include building a bypass road around Main Street or modifying the hauling schedule so that a few days could be truck-free.

State Road 14 is not an attractive option. It provides a more-direct route from Alton to Cedar City, but big rigs are urged to steer clear of the Scenic Byway.

Even so, Childs argues that the mine and the trucks would bring economic benefits to the region, including 100 high-paying jobs at the dig site 40 miles south of Panguitch and a possible terminal for servicing the fleet in Panguitch.

Royalties from the mining operation would enrich Kane County, but how much money - if any - could flow to Garfield County and its communities remains unknown.

"They [Kane County] get all the money and we get all the impact," complains Vince Salbato, who until recently owned a fly-fishing shop and lodge on the Sevier River south of Panguitch.

Salbato also doubts the operation would bring many jobs to Garfield County. Instead, he worries it would drive away current workers.

"You may create five jobs here, but lose 100."

A deal with a coal-mining company could bring 100 jobs to picturesque, rural Kane County. But residents of Panguitch who make their living off tourism believe it would be a deal made with the devil.

They argue that a steady stream of coal-bearing semitrailer trucks driving from the proposed strip mine between Alton and Bryce Canyon National Park along U.S. 89 to I-15 would discourage visitors and new residents. It's obvious they are right. The continuous rumble and safety hazard of a coal caravan - a truck every four minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week - would scare off just about anybody looking for a quiet respite or retirement home.

The justified outcry over a plan to strip-mine 2,600 acres of this scenic piece of Utah calls attention to a growing New West war. This battle pits the economic driver of the past, the destructive extraction industry, with the clean, environmentally conscious harbingers of future prosperity - tourism and outdoor recreation.

Kane and Garfield counties and the towns of Panguitch, Alton and Hatch should take the side of tourism in this battle. If the Bureau of Land Management approves the mine and its trucking plan, it will compromise the future economic health of the region.

Coal-fired power plants are rightly being called to account for polluting the air with mercury and other chemicals, for contributing to global climate change and to the soot that blankets the Salt Lake Valley and other Western cities. This hardly seems the right horse to bet on for the long-distance run.

On the other hand, outdoor recreation and tourism are growing consistently. Nationally, recreation contributes at least 60 percent of national forests' contribution to the GDP, almost quadruple the benefit of drilling and mining.

This stretch of historic U.S. 89 takes travelers along the Sevier River, through the Dixie National Forest, beside Navajo Lake and Duck Creek, near Cedar Breaks National Monument and into Cedar City, where the annual Shakespearean Festival draws many thousands.

The current and future businesses that serve visitors, from restaurants and gift shops to motels and recreation outfitters, would be devastated by coal-trucking through the area. It should not be allowed to happen.

RECREATION AND EXTRACTION
(Source: David Litvin, Salt Lake Tribune, 3/24/07)

Your editorial of March 14, "Deal with the devil," urges readers to select tourism over resource extraction, regarding development of the Alton coal mine in Kane County. This is a false choice.

Coal is an essential commodity for Utah - 95 percent of our electricity comes from coal. The Alton coal mine will be developed without adversely impacting the environment, wildlife, national parks, recreation or tourism.

The extraction industry pays the highest average wages of any industry in Utah. The 100 coal mine jobs and the 500-700 secondary jobs will provide substantial tax revenue to Kane and Garfield counties.

You write that tourism is a stronger economic driver than extractive industries. In 2006, extraction accounted for nearly half of Utah's $6.8 billion exports, and the gross state revenue from energy and minerals was $7.6 billion, compared with only $5.9 billion for all travelers in Utah.

Only 153 coal truck round trips in a 24-hour period are projected on U.S. 89. This is much less coal truck traffic than elsewhere in the state. Retirees in record numbers are moving to Cedar City and St. George with much higher truck traffic than projected for Kane or Garfield counties.

Coal-fired power plants, the closest of which is in Carbon County, are not polluting the Salt Lake Valley. They burn the cleanest coal in the West.

The Tribune should encourage reasoned dialogue, not fan the flames of extremism. Products from extraction benefit all Utahns and tourists.
---

* DAVID LITVIN is president, Utah Mining Association. Other signatories: Lee Peacock, president, Utah Petroleum Association; Dave Creer, executive director, Utah Trucking Association.

BOARD ASKED TO FORCE OPENING OF LILA CANYON MINE
(Source: Mike Gorrell, Salt Lake Tribune, 3/15/07)

UtahAmerican Energy Inc. formally asked the Utah Board of Oil, Gas and Mining to intervene and force state mining regulators to issue the company a permit to open the Lila Canyon Mine in the Book Cliffs.

The company had informed the state Division of Oil, Gas and Mining in November that it was tired of waiting for permit approval and would file a legal challenge against the state if the process were not completed in 45 days. That deadline later was extended to March 5.

The board probably will address the issue at its April meeting.

Division officials contend that they cannot issue the permit until the company's application is complete, and that it is not. Agency spokesman Jim Springer said the division is waiting for a couple of American Indian tribes to respond to a cultural resources study. Those responses are expected soon, he added, figuring that the permit application could be submitted to the federal Office of Surface Mining and the U.S. Department of Interior within the next month.

This is the second time the board has been asked to intervene.

In 2001, the board overturned a division decision to approve a permit for the mine, filed by its then-owner, Andalex Resources Inc. The board was responding to an appeal by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, whose opposition to the mine has not abated.

UtahAmerican Energy said the proposed underground mine could yield about 7 million tons of coal annually and would employ about 300 people.

It could cost $4 billion annually to eliminate the carbon dioxide generated by power plants in the Carolinas.

The immense cost for cleaning up coal would be equivalent to building two nuclear power plants every year.

That finding comes from a report sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy; the state's utilities reviewed it this week.

"Based on the findings of this report, it seems unlikely geologic carbon capture and storage is a viable option in North Carolina," said Progress Energy spokeswoman Dana Yeganian. "That doesn't mean that we are rejecting sequestration outright. It just means we would need to look at other options -- offshore, pipelines -- and the issues and costs associated with them to make it work here."

The report was prepared for Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK PRA) (NYSE:DUK) , Progress Energy and others to identify underground geologic sites where carbon dioxide could be injected as a solution to global warming. Researchers concluded that the Carolinas lack the proper geology to trap the gas forever and would instead require hundreds of miles of pipelines to deliver the gas to Kentucky, West Virginia and offshore sites from Cape Hatteras to Georgia. Such a pipeline network could cost $4 billion to build.

Progress Energy and Duke Energy are responsible for most of the 77 million tons of carbon dioxide generated by power plants each year in the Carolinas. The odorless, nonflammable gas accounts for 60 percent of global warming emissions.

Carbon sequestration is in its infancy and at least a decade away from commercial application, experts say.

The bulk of the cost of carbon sequestration comes from the industrial process required to separate the gas from coal or from its emissions, and then to compress the gas into liquid form. According to some calculations, carbon sequestration would increase the cost of electricity from coal-fired power plants by as much as 80 percent. The impact could dramatically alter the economics of power in this state, where half the electricity comes from coal-fired plants.

Coal-fired power plants have become the focus of carbon sequestration efforts because they are the principal emitters, followed by automobiles, office buildings and residential homes. In recent decades, modern industry has devised technologies for trapping pollutants such as fly ash, mercury, sulphur and nitrogen oxides, leaving carbon dioxide as the remaining obstacle to turning coal into a clean fuel.

Some in the electric industry are making carbon sequestration the cornerstone of an energy policy dependent on coal. Duke Energy, one of the nation's top producers of carbon dioxide, is reviewing whether it will build a new coal-fired plant west of Charlotte that would emit about 5.5 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year.

"In the Carolinas and across the nation, we believe utility-scale carbon storage and capture technology for large base load power plants is expected to be available in 10 to 15 years," said Duke Energy spokeswoman Marilyn Lineberger.

Typically, capturing CO2 and compressing it into liquid form represent about 80 percent of the cost of carbon sequestration. Moving the CO2 liquid by pipeline and injecting it underground account for the remainder of the cost, said Howard Herzog, a principal research engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies carbon sequestration.

The study of CO2 sequestration potential in the Carolinas will be available at www.secarbon.org.

"Potential Sinks for Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide Generated in the Carolinas" was prepared for the Southern States Energy Board and Electric Power Research Institute on behalf of Duke Energy, Progress Energy and other utilities.

The executive summary can be accessed from the online version of this article at www.newsobserver.com.

TAX REFORM LEGISLATION
$220M: TAKE IT TO THE BANK
(Source: Glen Warchol, Salt Lake Tribune, 3/15/07)

In signing what he called the most meaningful tax reform measure in Utah's history, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. likened the legislative process to "making sausage."

Believe it or not, he meant it in a good way.

"It is an ugly process that is at times reviling to a lot of people who are watching from the outside," Huntsman said Wednesday of the proverbial legislative knockwurst. "But it results in something good and useful and tasty. In this case, we have a very important economic policy that we can base our growth on for the years to come."

The plan, which touches nearly every part of the tax code, will also slash taxes by $220 million, another historic milestone.

When it takes effect in 2008, the tax overhaul will take the state from a bracketed individual income tax system with more than 20 deductions and a top rate of 7 percent to a sleek 5 percent single-rate schedule with a handful of tax credits for children, charitable giving and mortgage payments.

Advocates for low-income citizens and the elderly laud the structure because it phases out the credits as income increases and is indexed for inflation to protect the poorest Utahns. Fully 90 percent of taxpayers will benefit from the $110 million personal income tax cut.

The plan also will provide an $80 million sales tax cut as it shaves one-tenth of 1 percent from the statewide sales tax and a full 1 percentage point from the state's portion of the tax on groceries.

Huntsman and his legislative allies pushed for the modernization to help Utah attract new business. "It's about competitiveness, it's about economically preparing our state for the next generation." he said, adding that the 5 percent rate "says to the marketplace that we are a safe haven for capital."

"The net result is going to be a state that more companies are going to come," said Ragula Bhaskar, chief executive of FatPipe Networks, a Salt Lake-based technology company. "We are going to be able to attract more top talent. The more talent we attract to the state the more employment they are going to create."

The lawmakers who have been driving the tax reform initiative seemed to be a bit taken aback that they actually
accomplished changes in three years that they had expected to take a decade. It's just a year since a transitional dual-tax system was signed into law.

"Little did I know we were going to be able to jump to the end game in one year," said Senate President John Valentine.

Some tax work is left to be done, but it is minor compared to the package the governor signed into law, legislators say. House Speaker Greg Curtis, in particular, has a remaining goal. "We are two years into what I hope will be a three-year march to take the sales tax [completely] off of food," he said

Taxpayers will file this year under the two-track system approved last year, in which taxpayers pick between the standard deduction-based income tax or a 5.35 percent flat tax.

The new 5 percent single-rate system begins in 2008.

About the tax cuts

* The state's new tax system will take effect in 2008.

* It will cut taxes by about $220 million. Income tax will be cut by $110 million. The benefit to the average family will be $300.

* It will create a 5 percent single-rate system with credits for dependents, retirement, mortgage interest and charitable giving.

* It will cut general sales tax by $40 million.

* The state sales tax rate will change from 4.75 percent to 4.65 percent. That is expected to save an average buyer $10 a year.

* The sales tax on unprepared food will see a $40 million reduction, which will cut the tax on food by 1 percentage point and create a statewide 3 percent rate. It will save an average buyer $44 a year.

* It includes a business tax-cut package worth $30 million.

GARN PICKED TO CO-LEAD MINERAL REVENUE PANEL
(Source: Robert Gehrke, Salt Lake Tribune, 3/23/07)

WASHINGTON - Former Utah Sen. Jake Garn will co-chair a panel looking at the Interior Department's
practices for collecting mineral revenue on federal and tribal land, the department said.

Garn will lead the Subcommittee on Royalty Management with former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey.

The panel will study whether the department has adequate safeguards to ensure that it receives correct payment for mineral leases on federal land; if auditing and enforcement procedures guarantee companies comply with existing law; and whether a program allowing companies to pay royalties in oil or gas instead of money is a benefit to the government.

"These individuals have each served with distinction in their fields and bring to this review a valuable level of outside expertise and objectivity," Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said in a statement.

"We are grateful to them for agreeing to help us improve our programs and ensure that Americans are receiving a fair and appropriate return from federal oil and gas lease programs."

The Interior Department's inspector general has issued two scathing reports on the Minerals Management Service's oil and gas royalty programs.

Most notably, MMS failed to include "price thresholds" in leases granted in 1998 and 1999, which would require companies to pay more in royalties in certain conditions. The Government Accountability Office estimated that the oversight could cost $10 billion over the next decade.

Inspector General Earl Devaney called it a "a jaw-dropping example of bureaucratic bungling."

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SUMMIT WILL LOOK AT WAYS TO GET THE MOST FROM ENERGY
(Source: Pam Henetz, Salt Lake Tribune, 3/26/07)

How to develop — and conserve — Utah's abundant conventional and renewable energy resources will be analyzed during an Energy Slimmit next month,. Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. has announced.

The governor, who has launched an ambitious energy efficiency project for the state, will piggyback his summit on a meeting of the National Governors Association resource committee, which he leads with assistance from New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democratic presidential candidate.

Governors from around the nation, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne have been invited to speak at the April 15-17 summit, as have representatives of environmental advocacy groups, the oil and gas industry, renewable energy companies and other commercial interests.

"It's very important, obviously, to define where the West can meet national energy needs," said Laura Nelson, Huntsman's energy adviser. "Even though there's a diversity of energy policies, we still can come together to discuss some complex issues?'
.

The summit will be held at Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City, with panel discussions and presentations focusing on the nation's rising demand for energy, challenges and opportunities in new energy technology development, carbon constraints, and the shifting global energy market.

Successful energy efficiency and conservation programs also will receive attention.

An expert panel will discuss how to further diversify the nation's energy portfolio, including increased use of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, biofuels, advanced coal generation, and unconventional fuels such as oil shale and tar sands.

A session on climate change, energy security and the impacts of rising global energy demands will include representatives of the National Resources Defense Council, the National Wind Coordinating Council and coal industry representatives.

Sara Wright, Utah Clean Energy executive director, will moderate a panel on renewable energy that will focus on Huntsman's ongoing efforts to build a plan that aims to cut energy use by 20 percent by 2015 across all economic sectors.

Incentives and obstacles to energy development, conventional and renewable, will be another focus.

Nelson said the discussion will include carbon management and global climate change, the socio-economic impact of energy development, demand on water resources and education and job-training needs.

Private sector energy developers are welcome to the summit, as is the public, Nelson said.

Devin Hyatt, operations manager of the Eden-based solar heating firm In Hot Water, said legislative action on the state and federal level -- in particular, tax, credits and economic incentives -- have boosted the alternative energy market.

"Without that legislation, we would not be able to penetrate the middle class market segment," Hyatt said. That success has led to growing interest from large investors, he said.

DES MOINES, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE) --MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Sokol, in testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality today, outlined the company's position on global climate change.

"Transitioning to a low-carbon economy cannot take place overnight, but there are measures we should undertake now that will place us on the right path," Sokol said.

Sokol told Congress the nation needs a phased-in technology and policy-driven approach to provide tools necessary to successfully reduce long-term global greenhouse gas emissions while minimizing the costs and risks to the economy and the impact on customers.

The first of three phases includes technology development and market transformation activities. In the electricity sector, MidAmerican proposed the following measures:

1. Adoption of a flexible renewable energy portfolio standard.

2. More stringent energy-efficiency mandates.

3. Policies to encourage efficiency improvements at existing facilities.

4. A 10-year, multi-billion dollar public-private research and development program for emissions reduction.

5. Removal of the legal and regulatory barriers to the deployment of new technologies such as carbon sequestration and new nuclear development.

6. Tax policies to support these programs, such as a long-term extension of the renewable energy tax credit.

In the second phase, as technologies become widely available, a hybrid system of phased-in emissions reductions based on carbon intensity targets, together with a carbon price cap, would be developed.

"With this approach, we will begin to gain certainty around emissions reductions, while the price cap will provide the necessary certainty regarding cost," Sokol said.

The third phase prescribes a 25 percent reduction of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from 2000 levels by 2030, with additional emissions of 10 percent in each succeeding five-year period through 2050.

In addition, Sokol said a mandatory domestic program of emission allocations must include flexibility measures, allowing future members of Congress and future presidents to adjust requirements based on periodic reviews of climate science, technology development, economic impacts and international cooperation.

"While the United States may significantly reduce its emissions, our efforts will be for naught if emissions increases in the developing world are not restrained. Technology advancement and export will help to ensure that our domestic greenhouse gas policy has a real impact on reducing emissions in developing countries."

Sokol concluded his testimony with five points he said lawmakers should thoughtfully address in any global climate change legislation.

1. The electric industry cannot change past decisions and should not be penalized for past fuel choices.

2. The feasibility and cost of clean energy technologies must be known before they are deployed, because utility companies and regulators have a responsibility to keep customers' rates as low as possible.

3. A recommitment to funding research and development in the energy sector must occur.

4. Failure to take technology development timelines into account could result in unintended consequences, such as fuel shifting from coal to natural gas, which already faces tight supply-demand constraints.

5. A cap and trade concept in itself will not reduce emissions, bring new technologies on-line or reduce prices for renewable resources. This complex issue cannot be solved that simply.

A copy of Sokol's written testimony and MidAmerican's global climate change legislative outline are available in the news room at the MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company Web site, www.midamerican.com.

MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company is based in Des Moines, Iowa, and is a privately owned global provider of energy services. Through its energy-related business platforms - CalEnergy, CE Electric UK, Kern River Gas Transmission Company, Northern Natural Gas Company, MidAmerican Energy Company and PacifiCorp - MidAmerican provides electric and natural gas service to 6.9 million customers worldwide.

UTAH'S POWER PRICES AMONG 10 LOWEST
(Source: Dave Anderton, Deseret Morning News, 3/20/07)

Utah's residential electricity prices rank among the 10 lowest in the nation, according to a new report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

In 2006, the average retail price of electricity in Utah was 7.61 cents per kilowatt-hour, up from 7.52 cents per kwh in 2005. Just seven other states in 2006 had average residential electricity prices lower than Utah's, according to the report.

The U.S. average in 2006 was 10.4 cents per kwh, up from 9.45 cents in 2005. Hawaii had the most expensive electricity in 2006 at 23.36 cents per kwh. West Virginia had the cheapest at 6.32 cents per kwh.

Dave Eskelsen, a spokesman for Rocky Mountain Power, which serves about 75 percent of Utah's residents, said most people forget that between 1990 and 1997 electricity rates in Utah for Rocky Mountain Power customers declined roughly 30 percent.

"You see relatively low rates in the Intermountain West because of low-cost coal," Eskelsen said. "The bottom line on why rates are low is that the company over the last two decades has worked diligently to retain its position as a low-cost energy provider. This is a substantial accomplishment given the nature of growth and our service area."

Eskelsen said residential customers of Rocky Mountain Power pay 7.54 cents per kwh, slightly lower than the EIA average for the state.

Laura Nelson, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s energy adviser, said Rocky Mountain's parent company, PacifiCorp, also incorporates a significant amount of hydro power on its system, lowering costs.

In Washington, where PacifiCorp also serves customers, the cost of electricity averaged 6.81 cents per kwh, the second lowest in the nation.

"It has actively pursued long-term cost planning," said Nelson, who added that the addition of new natural gas plants in Utah in recent years could push prices higher.

"Certainly it is in our interest to look for a diversity of options because there can be an impact on prices if we rely more heavily on natural gas," Nelson said.

The EIA report noted that 2006 was the warmest year on record for the 48 contiguous states.

"El Nino is cited as contributing to milder winter temperatures and helping to make December 2006 the fourth warmest December since recordkeeping began in 1895," the report said. "As a consequence of the warmer weather, total December 2006 net generation was 3.6 percent lower than it was in December 2005."

In 2006, 49 percent of the nation's electric power was generated at coal-fired plants, the report said. Nuclear plants contributed 19.4 percent, 19.9 percent was from natural gas-fired plants and 1.6 percent was generated at petroleum-fired plants. Conventional hydroelectric power provided 7.1 percent of the total, while other renewables, like biomass, geothermal, solar and wind, generated 2.9 percent.

About 94 percent of Utah's electric power generation comes from coal.

QUESTAR LAUNCHES
THREE PROGRAMS FOR CONSERVATION
(Source: Steven Oberbeck, Salt Lake Tribune, 3/27/07)

Utah's heating season may be winding down, but Questar Gas Co. wants consumers to continue to think about ways they can cut back on their natural gas use.

The company this month launched three programs for Utah consumers, all designed to encourage energy conservation and that promise rebates and other assistance for those who are committed to saving energy.

"There are huge opportunities for Utahns to make their homes more energy efficient and save money in the process," Questar Gas spokesman Darren Shepherd said. "And we're more than willing to do what we can to help."

Questar Gas' conservation programs are part of a three-year pilot study authorized last October by the Utah Public Service Commission. The pilot program will test whether both the utility and its customers can benefit financially by working together.

Before the launch, the company and its consumers were at cross-purposes when it came to saving energy.

That's because the amount of revenue Questar collected from each customer to cover its fixed costs - expenses that included employee wages, outlays for buildings and spending on pipes, trucks and other equipment - were tied to the amount of natural gas used in each home.

So, Utah consumers who cut consumption by $1 would save approximately $1.30 on their monthly bill, or $1 in natural gas and 30 cents in fixed costs. But then Questar had a harder time collecting the money it needed to run its distribution system.

The PSC's solution was to allow Questar to temporarily sever the tie between its fixed costs and natural gas usage. That way, the company is assured of collecting the money it needs to run its system even as it offers conservation programs.

Questar's conservation programs include rebates to its customers who install high-efficiency appliances, home-energy use audits and weatherization credits for customers who put additional insulation into their walls, floors or attics.

Utah's Committee of Consumer Services also supported the pilot program, and will be part of a task force charged with assessing its results.

"The Committee strongly supports cost-effective [conservation programs]," Committee Director Michele Beck said. "We will continue [to work] to assure the programs are well designed and implemented to provide benefits for small business and residential consumers."

Conserve and save

Questar Gas Co. is offering three programs to encourage its residential customers to use less natural gas.

* APPLIANCE REBATES: Consumers who install high-efficiency appliances can apply for a rebate to help offset the cost of the purchase. For example, a customer who purchases a new gas furnace with an efficiency rating of 90 percent or higher is eligible for a $300 rebate.

* WEATHERIZATION REBATES: Consumers who install thermally insulated windows are eligible for a 95 cent-per-square-foot rebate. Also, their are rebates of 45 cent-per-square-foot for home owners who add insulation (R-11 or higher) to their walls and 35 cent-per-square-foot for (R-19 or higher) insulation added to attic/floors.

* HOME ENERGY AUDITS: For $25, a Questar Gas technician will visit a home, conduct an energy audit, install a water-heater blanket and pipe insulation and provide the homeowner with a low-flow water tap. As part of the audit, the technician also will provide a detailed report on how to make the home more energy efficient. Homeowners who follow through on the recommendation can get the $25 cost credited back on the monthly natural-gas bill. Questar customers also can get a free do-it-yourself audit that they can mail into the company when completed. The company will respond by sending a detailed report on steps customers can take to cut their energy costs. The report will be sent with a free water-heater blanket and pipe insulation materials.

* For additional information on Questar Gas' programs go to www.thermwise.com.

URANIUM IGNITES NEW 'GOLD RUSH' IN THE WEST
(Source: Susan Moran and Anne Raup, The New York Times, 3/28/07)

LA SAL - Given its connotations, Pandora is an oddly appropriate name for a uranium mine.

But that does not seem to bother Denison Mines, the company from Vancouver, British Columbia, that owns it. Denison recently reopened this mine about 30 miles southeast of Moab, along with several others in nearby western Colorado, after it lay dormant during the years when the nation shunned nuclear power.

The revival of uranium mining in the West, though, has less to do with the renewed interest in nuclear power as an alternative to greenhouse-gas-belching coal plants than to the convoluted economics and intense speculation surrounding the metal that has pushed up the price of uranium to levels not seen since the heyday of the industry in the mid-1970s.

''There's a lot of staking going on,'' said Mike Shumway, a 53-year-old Vietnam veteran who owns the contracting business that is working the Pandora mine. ''It's like the gold rush.''

Shumway has personally amassed about 100 uranium claims, including four dormant but potentially rich mines. Some of the claims he bought quietly after less tenacious prospectors could not afford to hold theirs during the long drought while uranium was out of favor. Shumway's eyes light up and he cracks a grin as he ponders the fortune he now hopes to gain.

''There's big money in it,'' he said as he probed piles of waste ore at Pandora with a Geiger counter. ''What other work do you know of where you can make millions in 30 days?''

Not many. Prices for processed uranium ore, also called U308, or yellowcake, are rising rapidly. Yellowcake is trading at $90 a pound, nearing the record high, adjusted for inflation, of about $120 in the mid-1970s. The price has more than doubled in the past six months alone. As recently as late 2002, it was below $10.

A string of natural disasters, notably flooding of large mines in Canada and Australia, has set off the most recent spike. Hedge funds and other institutional investors, who began buying up uranium in late 2004 to exploit the volatility in this relatively small market, have accelerated the price rally.

But the more fundamental causes of the uninterrupted ascendance of prices since 2003 can be traced to inventory constraints among power companies and a drying up of the excess supply of uranium from old Soviet-era nuclear weapons that was converted to use in power plants. Add in to those factors, the expected surge in demand from China, India, Russia and a few other countries for new nuclear power plants to fuel their growing economies.

''I'd call it lucky timing,'' said David Miller, a Wyoming legislator and president of the Strathmore Mineral Corp., a uranium development firm. ''Three relatively independent factors - dwindling supplies of inventory, low overall production from the handful of uranium miners that survived the 25-year drought and rising concerns about global warming - all have coincided to drive the current uranium price higher by more than 1,000 percent since 2001.''

Strathmore controls more than 3 million acres of exploration projects in Canada and previously discovered sources in the U.S., primarily around Grants, N.M. In its heyday, the Grants ''uranium belt'' coughed up 340 million pounds of uranium, making New Mexico an even larger producer than Utah or Wyoming. Some politicians in the area hope there will be a new wave of mines, mills and jobs.

''There's so much money pouring into this sector,'' said Julie Ickes, editor and publisher of StockInterview.com, which tracks uranium prices and companies. ''If you put 'uranium' in your company name, you can look like you're looking for property," he said. ''It's a lot of talk.''

Globally, 180 million pounds of processed uranium are consumed each year by nuclear power plants. Production worldwide from mines amounts to only 100 million pounds. Roughly 75 million pounds come out of utility company stockpiles. What is actually traded in the spot market is only about 35 million pounds.

Some industry watchers fear the uranium market is entering the bust phase of another boom-bust cycle.

''It's like the tech bubble,'' said James Finch, senior editor of StockInterview.com. ''We're waiting for the crash.''

Uranium executives, investors and analysts alike agree that a major underlying cause of the current bull market is that mines are not generating enough uranium to meet growing demand. The supply constraints can be traced back to the end of the Cold War when the U.S. and the former Soviet Union started converting enriched uranium into nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes.

But by 2003 uranium inventories held by utilities in the U.S. were coming back into balance. Then a series of natural disasters further pinched supply. Power companies now find themselves competing with aggressive institutional investors for high-price uranium.

The University of Utah ranks among the top 25 schools in the country, according to a survey by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM).

The organization surveyed the 2005 commercialization results for 228 universities. No other Utah university placed in the top 100.

The University of Utah's number 19 ranking in commercialization revenue places it above such research powerhouses as Johns Hopkins and the California Institute of Technology. Other universities in the top 25 are NYU, Wisconsin, the University of California System, MIT, Washington, Harvard, and Colorado.

Only 25 of the participating institutions earned more than $10 million in licensing revenues in 2005. The University of Utah's revenues were $16,137,282.

Jack Brittain, dean of the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business and vice president for the Office of Technology Venture Development says the university's efforts to create businesses from research are paying off.

"Licensing revenues earned by the University of Utah support further research and a variety of commercialization support programs, including the University's Technology Commercialization Grants Program, our seed research grants program, and provide matching funding required by various federal grants," said Brittain.

In the research dollars rankings published by AUTM, the U is number 55, placing it in league with Carnegie Mellon (53), Indiana (54), UC Irvine (56), and M.D. Anderson Medical Center in Texas (57). The U comes in at 32 among public institutions in this same ranking.

"To rank number 19 overall in commercialization revenue is extraordinary given the research funding ranking, and to rank near the top in company formation shows the Legislature's confidence as expressed by the USTAR initiative is well-founded," said Brittain.

Other impressive numbers for the University of Utah listed in the AUTM survey include licensing dollars generated per research dollars received, ranking the University 13th best in the country, tied with the University of Colorado. The U is also one of only 16 universities generating over $15 million in licensing revenue.

Brian Cummings, director of the University of Utah Technology Commercialization Office, says the new
survey shows the University of Utah is fast becoming recognized as one of the nation's leading economic engines.

"The U is the eighth best university in the country in the number of companies formed. The U.S. average number of companies formed in the U.S. was 4 in 2005, and in 2006 the U generated 20 companies," said Cummings.

To view the entire survey and a breakdown on the published data, please visit the following Web site: http://www.autm.net/surveys/dsp.Detail.cfm?pid=191

GOLD MINE TOURS GIVE VIEW OF MINING CAREERS
(Source: Elko Daily Free Press, 3/23/07)

ELKO - A collaboration between Great Basin College, Barrick Gold of North America and Newmont Mining Corp. is offering anyone interested in mining careers the opportunity to tour working mine sites.

The Nevada Mining Rocks! careers in mining tour promises to get participants up-close and personal with daily mining operations and meet with employees to learn about career opportunities in mining.

Some of the programs that will be discussed include electrical systems technology, diesel technology, welding technology, mining, engineering, natural resources, earth sciences, office technology and human resources.

This opportunity will be open to 45 students per tour. High school students will be given first priority.

Great Basin College students and community members who are interested in attending GBC are also encouraged to sign up if there are additional seats available for the tour.

The first tour will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 4. The second tour group will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on
April 5. Call 738-8493 for information and to sign up.

Utility CEOs warn Congress about cost of emission curbs Mar 20, 2007 Greenwire Darren Samuelsohn, Greenwire senior reporter

Electric power producers warned lawmakers today that imposing stringent limits on heat-trapping greenhouse gases would pose a financial burden on their customers.

"No one should underestimate the challenge of de-carbonizing an economy that has relied on carbon-based fuels for two centuries," said David Sokol, chairman and CEO of Iowa-based MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., during the House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee hearing. "Adopting arbitrary reduction requirements and timelines with unknown impacts will place the largest unfunded mandate in U.S. history on every American."

Sokol added, "Technology development is the key."

Michael Morris, president and CEO of American Electric Power, cautioned lawmakers to consider the economic effect of the United States going forward with emission curbs without bringing China, India and other developing countries into the mix.

Citing an editorial he co-authored recently with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Morris said Congress could impose trade sanctions on any country that wants to export goods to the United States without capping its emissions.

Morris said Congress could also weigh a set of targets for the United States that only go into place if other developing countries agree to emission limits. The European Union is moving in that direction with a plan to cut greenhouse gases 20 percent, with a trigger that goes up to 30 percent if the United States and Australia also cap their emissions.

Recognizing the tough road ahead for Congress to pass mandatory cap-and-trade legislation, Duke Energy Chairman James Rogers said lawmakers should be ready to move some smaller climate measures that would lay the groundwork for future legislation.

"If cap-and-trade is not right today, seek consensus on first steps," Rogers said, citing a mandatory, nationwide greenhouse gas registry, early credits for voluntary action and guidelines for carbon capture and sequestration.

Jeff Sterba, chairman of PNM Resources, urged Congress to sync up cap-and-trade targets and deadlines with projections for new energy technologies.

Sterba, the incoming chairman of the Edison Electric Institute, also endorsed a "safety valve" limiting the price on carbon emissions over decades to ensure businesses know what they must pay to comply with the global warming laws.

The executives urged Congress to spend tax dollars on new energy technology research and development, and to change to the Clean Air Act's New Source Review program to allow industrial plants to more easily make repairs and upgrades.

The utility executives appeared at the Energy and Commerce Committee's 10th climate change hearing since Democrats took control of Congress in January. Like auto industry executives last week, all the power-industry officials said they would assist the panel as it writes climate legislation.

Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the full committee, plans to draft a climate bill this year, though the fate of that measure is far from certain. Another key committee Democrat, Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-Va.), said he has not settled yet on cap-and-trade legislation. But he said it is a leading candidate.

Several major environmental groups, including U.S. PIRG and the Union of Concerned Scientists, back global warming legislation to be introduced today from Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) that calls for an 80 percent emission cut by midcentury. The Waxman plan would require U.S. EPA to set up a cap-and-trade program.

Several committee Republicans remain unconvinced Congress needs to address global warming.

"The more I attend these hearings, the more quizzical I am that we human beings think we can shape the climate," said Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.).

Meanwhile, protesters gathered on the Capitol lawn late this morning to press lawmakers for swift action against global warming.

The crowd of a few hundred people represented citizens of more than 45 states, organizers said.

Splashed against a backdrop of a polar bear and an inflatable 20-foot globe with flames racing up its sides, the crowd heard from speakers ranging from a Fairfax County, Va., third grader who runs a web blog urging action to protect polar bears to Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Also speaking was Waxman, who said he will reintroduce his SAFE Climate Act today with more cosponsors than any other piece of climate legislation now in the House.
----
       Reporter Lauren Morello contributed to this report.

VOLATILE STOCK MARKET, GAS PRICES DIMINISH CONSUMER CONFIDENCE
(Source: Bob Willis and Shobhana Chandra, Bloomberg News, 3/27/07)

U.S. consumer confidence declined in March from a five-year high as gasoline prices rose, stocks fell and the housing recession showed few signs of ending.

The Conference Board's index of consumer confidence retreated more than forecast - to 107.2 from 111.2 in February - while the S&P/Case-Shiller index showed home prices dropped in January for the first time in at least six years.

The reports pushed stocks lower as investors fretted that consumer spending, which is carrying the five-year economic expansion, will weaken. The Conference Board also observed that jobs are plentiful, suggesting rising wages may yet shield most consumers from the worst of the housing downturn.

''Gas prices are weighing on confidence, and the stock-market volatility and all the reports on the subprime mortgage fiasco are also shaking people,'' said Michael Feroli, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. At the same time, ''prospects for continued income gains and consumer spending still look pretty good.''

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 8.89 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,428.61. The 10-year Treasury note was little changed to yield 4.61 percent in New York.

''We're looking for moderation in consumer spending, but we're not looking for any sharp, sudden clamping of purses or wallets that could push the overall economy into a recession,'' said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh.

Home values in 20 American metropolitan areas dropped 0.2 percent in January from a year earlier, according to S&P/Case-Shiller. The decrease was the first since the group started keeping year-over-year records in January 2001.

The numbers follow a report Monday that showed new-home sales nationally are at the lowest level in almost seven years as builders struggle with a glut of unsold dwellings. Falling prices make it harder for owners to borrow against home equity and may make lenders even more wary as delinquencies climb.

Gyrations in stock prices may also be making consumers queasy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 400 points on Feb. 27 after a sell-off in China spread throughout the world and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned of the possibility of a recession. The Dow posted its biggest gain in eight months on March 21, wiping away most of the losses of the year, after the Fed indicated it was no longer leaning toward raising interest rates.

The share of consumers who said jobs are plentiful rose to 30.5 percent in March, the highest since August 2001, from 27.8 percent in February. The proportion of people who said jobs are hard to get rose to 19.1 percent from 17.9 percent.

The proportion of people who expect their incomes to rise over the next six months fell to 17.5 percent from 19.2 percent. The share expecting more jobs fell to 12.7 percent from 13.3 percent.

The Conference Board's index has fared better than other confidence measures in recent months because it tends to be more influenced by consumer attitudes about the state of the labor market, economists said. Still, news of increasing mortgage delinquencies and stagnant home values is instilling unease.

TRADE DEFICIT REACHES A RECORD HIGH FOR THE FIFTH STRAIGHT YEAR
(Source: Associated Press, Salt Lake Tribune, 3/14/07)

WASHINGTON - The deficit in the broadest measure of trade hit an all-time high in 2006 and for the first time the United States even ran a deficit on investment income.

The Commerce Department reported that the imbalance in the current account jumped by 8.2 percent to $856.7 billion, representing a record 6.5 percent of the total economy. It marked the fifth straight year the current account deficit set a record.

Investment flows turned negative by $7.3 billion from a surplus of $11.3 billion in 2005. It was the first time investment income has been negative on records going back to 1929. That means foreigners earned more on their U.S. holdings than Americans earned on their overseas investments.

While the U.S. has run deficits in its trade in goods every year since 1976, until last year it had still been able to record a surplus in investments.

Analysts said that figure turned negative because of the large amount of U.S. assets that have been transferred to foreign hands over the past three decades to pay for the imported cars, clothing and electronic goods that American consumers love to buy.

The Bush administration contends the large foreign holdings of U.S. assets are a sign of strength. But many economists worry that foreigners might suddenly decide they want to hold less in U.S. stocks, bonds and other assets.

A rapid withdrawal could cause the value of the dollar against other currencies and U.S. stock prices to plunge while pushing interest rates higher. If the disruption were serious enough, it could push the country into a recession.

''The hope is that the transition to a lower current account deficit goes smoothly, but the danger is thatpeople stop loaning us money before they start buying our goods,'' said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York.

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration is looking to hire more coal mine inspectors for its office in Price.

A March 30 deadline has been set to apply online on the MSHA Web site, http://www.msha.gov. Applicants should click on "Jobs at MSHA," select vacancy announcement MSHA-07-036-DP and follow the process.

PROGRESS ON U.S. MINE SAFETY IS SLOW
(Source: Dorothy Kosich, Mineweb 3-2-07)

RENO, NV (Mineweb.com) -- On January 2, 2006, 12 miners died after an explosion at the Sago coal mine in West Virginia. On January 19th, two more West Virginia miners were killed during a conveyer belt fire at the Alma coal mine.

The two events resulted in a flurry of news media coverage, investigations, finger-pointing, and the enactment of the MINER Act. At the time he signed the act into law, President George W. Bush called the legislation "the most sweeping overhaul of federal mine safety law in nearly three decades."

During Senate Subcommittee hearing Wednesday, however, witnesses said not much progress has been made thus far to ensure that future Sago disasters will not happen.

United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts told the Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Service, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee that "I am sorry to report that MSHA's efforts over the past year would do little to change matters today if a mine were to experience an explosion like the one at Sago, or a mine fire like the one at Alma; indeed the underground miners would likely fare no better than those who perished over one year ago."

However, Richard Stickler, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine, Safety, and Health, said President Bush's 2008 Budget requests $313 million and 2,306 full-time employees for MSHA for a 4% increase over the current budget. It contains $16.6 million to retain 170 additional coal enforcement personnel, and implementation of new safety standards and regulations authorized in the 2006 MINER Act.

Former Assistant Secretary of Labor for MSHA J. Davitt McAteer, now a special advisor to West Virginia's Governor, told the subcommittee that six miners have died so far in coal and other underground mines in the past year. "In the months since the Sago disaster, much has changed and much more is in progress, but unfortunately for the average miner underground today not much has improved from the day-to-day safety and health standpoint," he said.

Bruce Watzman, Vice President of Safety and Health for the National Mining Association, said the association continues to believe that the core requirements of the MINER Act are sound. However, he explained that the industry faces "often conflicting regulatory requirements imposed by MSHA and state governments. We do not have the luxury of time to develop one system that complies with MSHA requirements, another for one state, and possibly a third or fourth for additional states."

UMWA's Roberts asserted that MSHA is "experiencing great difficult in fulfilling the mandatory inspections required under the Mine Act. The union is convinced that the hiring and training of more MSHA inspectors must be a top and continuing priority." He also called on MSHA to adopt "an aggressive regulatory agenda to address important issues in addition to those contained in the MINER Act" including atmospheric monitoring system, development of a national emergency communication system, and revising MSHA's approval and certification process for equipment.

Roberts said the union was troubled "by MSHA's failure to undertake action to facilitate the creation and training of additional mine rescue teams."

"While Congress allowed MSHA 18 months in which to prepare, finalize and give effect to rules that increase and enhance mine rescue team requirements, so far MSHA has not addressed this need. The need is real and it is immediate," he declared.

McAteer noted that the "development of safety and health equipment has lagged behind production equipment innovations," and diverted into a two-track system that emphasizes the development and implementation of production equipment. He suggested that safety and health requirements be incorporated into production equipment specifications, "which might serve as a way to renew the safety technology and cause innovation and advances in safety and health equipment."

"Until such time as we incorporate safety and health equipment into the production process, it will remain the step-child, lagging behind and only adding to the mining cycle," McAteer declared.

NMA's Watzman told the subcommittee that "unfortunately, the underground mining marketplace is not attractive to many technology providers."

Dr. John Howard, the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), said that while "it is too soon to find visible evidence of major changes resulting from research in underground coal mines since the Sago Mine disaster, changes are underway, and may represent the most significant improvement in mine safety technology and mine safety practices in three decades."

"The safety landscape will be different and vastly improved within three years of enactment of the MINER Act, and important improvements are expected to continue for several years afterwards," he said.

NIOSH said the U.S. Army is developing a subterranean wireless electronic communications system, which could be applied to underground mine communication and tracking. NIOSH is also requesting proposals to evaluate and develop a mine location tracking system to locate miners after accidents occur.

SIBERIAN COAL MINE BLAST KILLS AT LEAST 78
(Source: Salt Lake Tribune, 3/20/07)

MOSCOW – A methane gas explosion deep in a Siberian coal mine killed at least 78 people and left another 50 trapped Monday, March 19, in Russia's worst mining disaster in a decade.

Among the missing were company officials and safety experts who had been inspecting a British-made hazard-monitoring system, said Sergei Cheremnov, a spokesman for the regional government in Kemerovo, about 1,850 miles east of Moscow, where the mine is.

Up to 200 workers were in the Ulyanovskaya mine when the explosion occurred about 885 feet underground in the coal-rich southern region, emergency and regional officials said. At least 75 people were rescued.

Rescuers were checking a large section of the mine for the missing people and were in contact with some of the surviving miners, officials said.

MSHA CIVIL PENALTIES FINAL RULE
(Source: Insights, 3/23/07)

On Thursday, March 22 the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) published its rule on "Criteria and Procedures for Proposed Assessment of Civil Penalties" in the Federal Register (72 FR 13591-13646, http://frwebgate4.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=09820817502+30+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve

MSHA rejected comments seeking to limit penalty changes to those mandated by Congress in the 2006 Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act.

Instead, the agency adopted across-the-board penalty increases for non-coal and coal mines, including the elimination of the "single" $60 penalty for non-"significant & substantial" violations (non-serious), producing a massive increase in penalties to be assessed at all mines beginning on April 21, 2007. In addition to rejecting industry calls for an advisory committee to report on the impact and relationship between violations, penalties, and safety, the agency expanded the MINER Act application of flagrant penalties (up to $220,000) from failure to abate cited violations to any knowing or reckless failure to correct a violation, cited or not.

Before the publication of the final rule, MSHA issued PROCEDURE INSTRUCTION LETTER NO. I06-III-04, which instructs inspectors that flagrant violations also include two or more unwarrantable failure actions for the same standard within the past 15 months. One of the few areas where MSHA limited its changes to the provisions of the MINER Act is the adoption of a $5,000 minimum penalty for a failure to notify MSHA within 15 minutes of a fatality or entrapment; a $2,000 minimum penalty for Section 104 (d)(1) "unwarrantable" violations; and a $4,000 minimum for Section (d)(2) unwarrantable orders.

Large mine operators should be aware that simply as a result of the size of their operations, their penalties will increase in greater proportion than those of the rest of the industry, both due to penalty "points" for operator size and a new category of penalty points for repeat violations of the same standard per inspector day. MSHA also rejected comments calling for an improved relationship between penalties and safety performance that would focus violations and penalty increases on the leading causes of fatalities.

MINE SAFETY FINES TO DOUBLE UNDER NEW REGULATION
(Source: Ken Ward Jr., RedOrbit , 3/24/07)

Total fines for mine safety violations would more than double, to almost $32 million a year nationwide, under a new rule finalized Thursday by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration.

But fines charged to the industry's largest operators could actually decline, compared to the original proposal MSHA published last year, according to estimates made public with the release of the final rule.

While MSHA refused an industry request and generally raised fees across the board, agency officials also backed off several parts of the original proposal issued in the wake of last year's deadly year in the coalfields.

United Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts generally praised the final rule, but said he remains worried about how MSHA will implement it.

"It remains to be seen if MSHA will actually shift its general attitude from 'compliance assistance' to being strict enforcers of the law," Roberts said in a prepared statement.

Carol Raulston, a spokeswoman for the National Mining Association, said her group had hoped MSHA would scale back the rule to include only fine increases required by Congress in a reform bill passed last year.

That law established a new maximum fine of $220,000 for "flagrant" health and safety violations and a penalty of $5,000 to $60,000 for operators who fail to promptly report serious accidents, but under pressure after the Sago Mine disaster and a string of other deaths, MSHA did a much broader rewrite of its penalty regulations.

The rule rewrites a set of tables that set penalty "points" for violations, based on various factors, including the company size, compliance history and violation seriousness.

Under the final rule, total fines for all mining sectors would increase, if officials assume no additional compliance, from $24.9 million a year to $69.3 million, slightly more than under the original MSHA proposal.

MSHA projected its overall increase in penalties would force more coal operators to comply with the law more frequently. Overall, the agency said, total violations are expected to drop by nearly one- fourth.

When this change is accounted for, MSHA projects total fines assessed per year would increase from $14.7 million to $31.8 million.

Total fines for the very largest operators - those with more than 500 workers - would drop compared to the original proposal, from $7.4 million to $5.7 million.

For the next largest category - operators with between 20 and 500 workers - total penalties would increase slightly over the proposed rule, from $46.7 million to $49.4 million.

In its Federal Register notice, MSHA analyzed several industry examples that indicate the final rule is not as severe as last year's proposal:

* At one Jim Walter Resources mine in Alabama, the proposed rule would have increased total 2005 penalties form $66,000 to $379,000. The final rule increases them to $334,000, about 12 percent less.

* At another Jim Walter mine, last year's proposal would have increased total fines from $129,000 to $421,000. This week's final rule would increase them to $344,000, about 18 percent less.

* At a Peabody Energy mine, the original MSHA proposal would have increased the average fine for
a serious violation from $576 to $3,996. The final rule would increase the fine to $2,902, about 27 percent less.

Among other changes, MSHA backed off its original proposal for increasing penalty points based on mine size. Instead of a maximum of 20 points for mines with more than 2 million tons a year of coal produced for example, the final proposal gives similar-sized operators 15 points. That is still an increase over the 10 points allocated to those size operators under current rules.

MSHA eliminated the single shift penalty, which assigned automatic fines of $60 to the most common and less serious violations.

Under the change, these violations will instead be processed through the normal assessment procedure.

MSHA also reduced from 24 months to 15 months to period of time that will be examined in determining whether operators have a history of violations.

Also, in its new addition to the penalty formula meant to take into account repeat violations of the same safety standards, MSHA decided to base its analysis on the number of citations per inspection day rather than just the raw number of citations.

MSHA did not agree to industry requests that this new part of the formula only consider violations inspectors deem to be "significant and substantial."

April

15-17   Utah Energy Summit, Salt Lake City. For more info. visit: www.UtahEnergySummit.com

30-May 3   Coal Prep 2007, Lexington Center, Lexington, Ky. For more info. visit: www.coalprepshow.com

May

1     Prevention, Identification, and Management of Hearing Loss, 392 Union Hall, 2650 South 8950 West
Magna, Utah, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. For additional information contact Dana Hughes, RN, PhD, Outreach Coordinator,
Miners Hospital 801-585-1326.
10-11   Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute Utah State Meeting, Price Utah. For more info. visit: www.rmcmi.org

10-11   Industry Summit on Mining Performance (Business Process Improvement), Tuscon, AZ. For more info. visit:   www.outreach.psu.edu/C&I/BPI/default-home.htm

21-23   Spring Coal Forum, Memphis, TN. For more info. visit: www.americancoalcouncil.org

JUNE

6   UMA EDUCATION GOLF TOURNAMENT, RIVERBEND GOLF COURSE, Riverton, Utah

24-26 Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute Annual Convention, Copper Mountain Resort, Copper Mountain, CO. For more info. visit: www.rmcmi.org
26-27 Misuse and Abuse of Alcohol and Other Drugs in the Mining Industry, University of Utah Campus.
See school's website for additional information: http://uuhsc.utah.edu/uas

JULY

23-25   PRB Coal Use Seminar, St. Louis, MO. For more info. visit: www.americancoalcouncil.org

AUGUST

 23-24  UMA ANNUAL CONVENTION, GRAND SUMMIT HOTEL, Park City, Utah

OCTOBER

8-10    Coal Market Strategies, Tucson, AZ. For more info. visit: www.americancoalcouncil.org

DECEMBER

3-4    Coal Trading Conference. For more info. visit: www.americancoalcouncil.org

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