Manatt Division Chair Quoted on Dying Coal-Fired Power Plants
"Power Play for Ill. Coal Producer Offers to Pay for Energy Plant Cleanup"
Chicago Tribune
September 22, 2013 - Manatt's Craig Moyer, chair of the firm's Land, Environment & Natural Resources, was quoted by the Chicago Tribune on solutions to dying coal-fired power plants.
The Chicago Tribune reports that coal plants in Illinois and across the country already have begun closing as owners contend with costly pollution upgrades at the same time electricity prices have fallen. Illinois coal plant owners all contend that they can't afford to finish installing expensive equipment that traps toxic gases that come from burning coal, and they have all asked regulators to extend deadlines.
There have been multiple proposals to chemically turn Illinois coal into natural gas as a way to produce electricity and heat homes, but ultimately the projects failed to surface because they couldn't economically compete with natural gas, which is cheap and abundant. However, the coal industry isn't giving up.
In New Mexico, the Navajo Nation is attempting to purchase a coal mine that feeds a nearby power plant to try to keep open the plant and the mine. Members of the tribe work at both the plant and the mine, and the mine is on tribal land. The power plant requires about $1 billion in upgrades, said Moyer, who is the lead counsel for the Navajo Nation. He said tax benefits the Navajo Nation receives make the tribe's acquisition of the mine not only feasible but would allow the tribe to sell the coal at a cheaper price to keep both facilities operating.