Apr 1 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Rory Sweeney The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

While the Democratic presidential candidates are out stumping in Pennsylvania, they're being followed by some interesting vans carrying advocates of an issue that a year ago didn't need any additional publicity.

Americans for Balanced Energy Choices is an oblique title for a group that admits it's basically a grassroots lobby for King Coal and related industries, but the group is making a somewhat more direct pitch: All sources are important in the energy arsenal, but in these days of tighter budgets and increasing costs, coal's the economical choice.

Energy costs have risen 26 percent in the past decade and now comprise between a fifth and almost half of budgets for households with incomes below $50,000, according to statistics presented by the group.

Pennsylvania electricity rates are 2.5 percent less on average than neighboring New Jersey's, the group says, attributing that to Pennsylvania's reliance on coal, which federal numbers show accounts for about 53 percent of the state's energy generation. Coal-fired plants account for six of the 10 largest plants in the state, the largest eclipsing the state's entire stable of nuclear plants.

Cathy Coffey, the group's communications director, said energy demand nationally is expected to rise about 40 percent by 2030 and that America has a vast remaining coal supply that can help keep already escalating prices lower than they would otherwise be.

Statistics from the federal Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration peg the increase in consumption by 2030 at about 18 percent.

Coffey's group argues the industry that's often accused of increasing air pollution, contributing to acid rain and advancing global warming has been cleaning up its act and will continue to do so, making it a viable candidate in the clean-energy market. For example, she said, electricity use has doubled since the 1970s, but emissions have decreased by a third. "Will it get better? You bet," she said. "Technology in coal is going to evolve into something we can't even imagine."

If environmental regulations are phased in over a manageable timeframe, the industry will be able to trend toward zero emissions without drastic price increases, she said.

Meghan Cox, who runs the group's grassroots efforts, said she receives support from a demographic age group not usually noted for its interest in economic issues.

"We have a huge movement of young people," she said, because their utility bills are rising, and they often have family members whose incomes rely on coal. Pennsylvania remains heavily entrenched in the industry as the fourth-largest coal-producing state, according to 2005 statistics from the Energy Information Administration.