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Charlotte Area Duke Energy Seeks Bids For Mountaintop-Free Coal WFAE | By Lisa Miller Published June 11, 2010 at 1:00 PM EDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
http://66.225.205.104/LM20100611.mp3
Duke Energy wants to know how much it would cost to stop fueling its plants with coal harvested from mountaintops. Mountaintop removal is pretty much what it sounds like. Coal companies
blast off the tops of mountains to get at the coal beneath. The process is cheaper than digging underground for it, but is devastating to the environment and surrounding communities. As much
as half of the coal Duke Energy uses in the Carolinas comes from Appalachian mountaintops. The company has been harshly criticized by environmental groups for that. Duke Energy spokesman
Tom Williams says the utility is taking a new step. It's seeking bids to compare the cost of coal mined underground and from mountaintops. "We like our mountaintops as much as anybody else
and if there's a way we can move the market in that direction to focus on only underground mining methods we want to help facilitate that to happen," says Williams. Williams says mining
companies typically blend coal from different sources and don't break out the different costs. Duke Energy wants to know if it makes financial sense to stop buying coal mined from
mountaintops. The company also wants to be prepared if the federal government clamps down on mountaintop removal. But there's a sticking point. North Carolina law requires utilities to use
fuel that has a reasonable cost, so power isn't too expensive for consumers. As a result many utilities feel pressured to buy the cheapest coal no matter how it's mined.
