New York and coal

Introduction
New York had 48 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 4,273 MW of capacity, representing 10.0% of the state's total electric generating capacity; New York ranks 28th out of the 50 states in terms of coal energy production. In 2006, New York's coal-fired power plants produced 21.5 million tons of CO2, 100,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 29,000 tons of nitrogen oxide; coal-fired power plants were responsible for 10.0% of the state's total CO2 emissions. In 2005, New York emitted 11.1 tons of CO2 per person, slightly more than half the U.S. average.

No coal was mined in New York in 2006.

Ravena citizens meet to hear results of mercury survey
About 100 local citizens of Ravena, New York, attended a meeting on January 6, 2011, at the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School to hear Michael Bank of the Harvard School of Public Health discuss the results of a study based on testing of mercury levels in 172 people. According to Bank, nearly one person in 10 of those tested had blood levels high enough to warrant a visit to their doctor. The study found that fish consumption was not the source of the mercury. Local citizens have organized Community Advocates for Safe Emissions to push for tougher controls on mercury pollution from the Lafarge cement plant, which uses coal fly ash from power plants and fires its kilns with coal. The plant is New York state's second-largest emitter of mercury.

History
There is no history of coal mining in New York. The coal power industry is also very weak in New York, which is dominated by nuclear and natural gas power generation.

Settlement on climate between Xcel Energy and New York state
In August 2008, in a landmark agreement, one of the America’s largest builders of coal-fired power plants was forced to give investors detailed warnings about the risks that climate change poses to its business. The agreement between New York’s attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, and Xcel Energy of Minneapolis, “could open a broad new front in efforts by environmental groups to pressure the energy industry into reducing emissions of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming,” said the New York Times.

Although shareholder resolutions are gathering a pace against big oil and coal, “this really takes it another step, by making it a settlement agreement that should have an impact across the industry,” argued Dan Bakal, the director of electric power programs at Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmental groups.

According to the New York Times: “Cuomo subpoenaed Xcel and four other companies last September, seeking to determine whether their efforts to build new coal-fired power plants posed risks not disclosed to investors, like future lawsuits or higher costs to comply with possible regulations restricting carbon emissions.”

“This landmark agreement sets a new industry wide precedent that will force companies to disclose the true financial risks that climate change poses to their investors,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement. “Coal-fired power plants can significantly contribute to global warming, and investors have the right to know all the associated risks.”

Under the agreement, Xcel had to disclose the financial risks of lawsuits and of federal or state court decisions that would affect its business. The company will also analyze and disclosed the “material financial risks” to itself associated with climate change.

Active

 * Clean Coal Plant Project, Jamestown, NY

Cancelled

 * Huntley Generating Station, Tonawanda, NY
 * Russell Station II, Greece, NY
 * Lackawanna Coal-to-Gas, Erie County, NY
 * Scriba Coal Gasification Plant, Scriba, NY

Coal power companies

 * Sithe Global Power
 * Headquarters in New York, NY
 * Controlled by Blackstone Group
 * Active proposals: Desert Rock, Toquop, Sithe Shade Township Project, River Hill Power Project
 * Refined Energy Holdings
 * Headquarters in Mt. Kisco, NY
 * Active proposals: Power County Advanced Energy Center
 * Goldman Sachs
 * Headquarters in New York, NY
 * Owner of Cogentrix
 * Controls 10 coal-fired generating stations with 574 MW total capacity
 * NRG Energy
 * Headquarters in Princeton, NJ
 * AES
 * Headquarters in Arlington, VA
 * Dynegy
 * Headquarters in Houston, TX

Existing coal plants
New York had 48 coal-fired generating units at 17 locations in 2005, with 4,273 MW of capacity - representing 10.0% of the state's total electric generating capacity.

Here is a list of coal power plants in New York with capacity over 400 MW: These 3 plants represent 48.3% of New York's coal energy generating capacity, 6.0% of the state's total CO2 emissions, and 4.2% of its total SO2 emissions.

For a map of existing coal plants in the state, see the bottom of this page.

AES Westover retired in March, 2011
In March 2011 the AES Westover retired its Unit 8 power station in March 2011. Additionally, AES announced it wanted to sell four of its New York coal plants, including Westover. The other plants included AES Cayuga, AES Greenidge and AES Somerset.

Coal Ash Waste and Water Contamination
In August 2010 a study released by the Environmental Integrity Project, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice reported that New York, along with 34 states, had significant groundwater contamination from coal ash that is not currently regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report, in an attempt to pressure the EPA to regulate coal ash, noted that most states do not monitor drinking water contamination levels near waste disposal sites. The report mentioned New York based AES Cayuga Generation Plant as having groundwater contamination due to coal ash waste.

Major coal mines
There are no major coal mines in New York.

Spending on Coal Imports
In May 2010, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a report titled Burning Coal, Burning Cash: Ranking the States that Import the Most Coal. The report found that New York ranks tenth in a list state-by-state spending on international coal imports in 2008, with a total of $63 million spent on international coal. According to the report, Venezuela was the largest international source of coal burned in the northeastern state, with $52.8 million worth of coal purchased from the country. Colombia ($9.7 million) was another source of coal.

However, only 13.3 percent of the $472 million spent on coal for New York's power plants was for international imports in 2008. The remaining amount was spent on coal from West Virginia ($204 million), Wyoming ($164 million), Pennsylvania ($17 million), Montana ($12 million), Kentucky ($10 million), and Ohio ($1 million).

In 2008, sixteen U.S. states imported 25.4 million tons of coal from outside the country at the cost of $1.8 billion, an amount the equivalent of 1,700 barges over the course of a year, or over four per day. These imports amounted to three percent of the coal burned in the U.S. for electricity. The report noted that while coal imports into the U.S. have tripled over a ten year period ending in 2008, the country exports more coal than it imports. Alabama (with $489 million) ranks number one for state-by-state spending on international coal imports, followed by Florida (with $307 million).

Coal is the source of 13.6 percent of the state's power. The majority of New York's electricity comes from natural gas (31.1 percent), nuclear (30.6 percent), and hydroelectric energy (19 percent). The UCS report ranked states dependence on coal by six categories. Of the six categories, New York was in the top ten for only this one category ('Spending on International Coal Imports'). The state otherwise ranked as follows:


 * Expenditures on Coal as Fuel for Power Plants (2008): NY ranks #20 with $472 million
 * Amount of Coal Used to Fuel Power Plants, by Weight (2008): NY ranks #22 with 8,313,000 tons (total & net imports)
 * Spending on Net Coal Imports per Capita (2008): NY ranks #34 with $24
 * Spending on Net Coal Imports as a Share of Gross State Product (GSP) (2008): NY ranks #33 with 0.04%
 * Net Coal Imports as a Share of Total State Electricity Use (2008): NY ranks #31 with 13% net imports/electricity use

Citizen groups

 * Community Advocates for Safe Emissions
 * Environmental Advocates of New York
 * New York Climate Action Group
 * New York Loves Mountains
 * Scriba Coalition of Responsible Citizens
 * Sierra Club New York Chapter
 * Clean Energy for Jamestown

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Existing U.S. Coal Mines
 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * US proposed coal plants (both active and cancelled)
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2007
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2008
 * Profiles of other states (or click on the map)