Power outrage: advocacy group rails against mountaintop removal coal mining

Flip a switch and the lights turn on.

Trying to drill down onto where that electricity came from is not quite so simple.

The power plant in Edgemoor, while it dominates the skyline of southern Brandywine Hundred, may not actually provide any of the power used by residents who live in its shadow, said Bridget Shelton, spokeswoman for Pepco Holdings, Delmarva Power’s parent company.

“There's so much trading in the competitive wholesale market that it truly is impossible to say where the electrons are coming from today,” she said.

And when it comes to determining how much of Delaware’s energy comes from a controversial strip mining process – let alone any type of coal mining – there are far more questions than answers.

The Edgemoor plant, which was officially purchased by Calpine on July 1, no longer burns any coal and has converted to natural gas, said Calpine spokeswoman Norma Dunn. Calpine, which committed to converting the plant from coal to gas from day one, only owns and operates natural gas and geothermal energy plants, said Dunn.

But Calpine, which purchased Conectiv Energy, is only one of eight companies that supply electricity to Delmarva Power, which in turn sells it to the residents of New Castle County. The suppliers are chosen through a competitive bid process where the lowest price wins.

Delmarva Power’s third largest supplier, Constellation Energy Commodities Group, operates a 1,286 megawatt coal-fired power plant near Baltimore, but whether New Castle County’s electricity comes from that plant or one of Constellation’s 26 others is anybody’s guess.

“You can pinpoint suppliers but you can't necessarily say this plant is providing this much of the power that feeds customers in New Castle County,” Shelton said.

So Delawareans may never know exactly how much of their electricity is generated through mountaintop removal coal mining.

Appalachian Voices, an advocacy group against the strip mining practice, recently made a presentation in Pike Creek raising awareness of the potential environmental hazards of mountaintop removal coal mining.

The process involves removing mountaintops to expose coal seams and then disposing of the dirt and rock in adjacent valleys, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

“It’s one of the largest environmental and human rights tragedies of our time,” said Brittney Baker, a Delaware native and outreach assistant for Appalachian Voices.

The valley fills can pollute the headwaters of streams, harming fish, wildlife and people, she said, and the process tends to leave behind abandoned mountaintops void of vegetation.

The group is fighting for legislative support of the Appalachia Restoration Act, a bill in the U.S. Senate that would curb much mountaintop removal coal mining by limiting the valley fills.

“The environmental, human health, and economic impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining are something I am concerned about, and I would consider co-sponsoring the bill if it comes to the Senate floor,” said Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.).

Strong legislation is necessary, Appalachian Voices says, especially since abandoned strip mine sites leave the potential for water pollution and flooding in dozens of Appalachian communities, said Rob Perks, of the National Resource Defense Council. The council reports that 89 percent of former mountaintop removal coal mining sites are abandoned once the mining is complete.

The National Mining Association disputes the accuracy of that figure.

“All coal mining operations are required to meet state water quality standards and to reclaim the land at the mine site once mining is complete,” said Carol Raulston, spokeswoman for the National Mining Association.

Mountaintop removal mining is typically used when coal is near the surface or interspersed with other materials, she said, and it is often a more cost-effective way of mining.

Cost is also the main factor in play when it comes to determining the suppliers of Delaware’s electricity, Shelton said.

And while energy prices can vary as often as every hour, fossil fuels tend to be the cheapest sources of energy, she said. None of Delmarva Power’s eight suppliers, from oil giant Hess to coal- and natural gas-burning Constellation, bill themselves as companies that only provide clean energy.

But one can’t say that the electricity bidding process excludes costlier forms of renewable energy like solar power and wind power, since the state requires a portion of Delawareans’ energy to come from renewable sources, Shelton said.

By 2020, 20 percent of Delmarva Power’s electricity must come from renewable sources. To that end, the company has four long-term contracts to purchase wind power and one to purchase solar power, Shelton said.