I was employed with CPS Energy throughout 2005. Our coal reserves dropped from 180 days to 19 days. The reason for the drop was two fold. First, the process of having large inventories on site means higher taxes. More importantly, the rains last fall and winter washed out several miles of track, and our orders were never filled or made up. The railroad was able to claim force majeure, which meant that they had no liability to make up for the undelivered tonnage.

In short, unless the Federal Government gets involved and forces more track in and out of PRB, we are in for the biggest energy shortfall in recorded history. We should all be very concerned that the Dept of Homeland Security has not taken action to protect the infrastructure of the PRB coal supply. The fact that rail repairs from the rains two years ago are still not complete serves to indict both PRB and the end-user. Your article is spot on regarding the shortage of rail in and out of PRB, but you should expound on the reasons for the falling inventories at plants throughout the south and southeast.

At the risk of being considered "Chicken Little", there are dark days (no pun intended) ahead for the users of PRB coal, and those customers that rely upon an uninterrupted supply of dependable energy.

Jim Ellis
Independent Chemistry Consultant

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