Ch. 8 Appalachia and the Ozarks

Appalachia's economy has been dominated by coal mining. I will use this posting to examine coal mining in Nebraska.
There is no coal mining history in the state.
According to SourceWatch: "Nebraska had 15 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 3,204 MW of capacity, representing 42.8% of the state's total electric generating capacity; Nebraska ranks 32nd out of the 50 states in terms of coal-fired generating capacity.[1] In 2006, Nebraska's coal-fired power plants produced 21.1 million tons of CO2, 65,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 41,000 tons of nitrogen oxide; coal-fired power plants were responsible for 48.8% of the state's total CO2 emissions.[2] In 2005, Nebraska emitted 24.6 tons of CO2 per person, about 25% higher than the U.S. average.[3]

There were no coal mines in Nebraska in 2006.[4] "

There are fifteen coal-fired generating stations. These stations are all owned by public utility companies. This website shows the locations of the sites and gives a lot more information: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Nebraska_and_coal

These stations represent about 40% of the state's total electric generating power.

Here is a list of coal power companies in Nebraska:
Coal power companies


Berkshire Hathaway

Headquarters in Omaha, NE

Owner of MidAmerican Energy Holdings, which in turn is the owner of PacifiCorp

6th biggest coal energy producer in U.S.

Controls 29 coal-fired generating stations with 10,282 MW total capacity

Active proposals: Council Bluffs Energy Center Unit 4

Nebraska Public Power District

Headquarters in Columbus, NE

Controls 4 coal-fired generating stations with 1591 MW total capacity

Omaha Public Power District

Headquarters in Omaha, NE

Controls 6 coal-fired generating stations with 1296 MW total capacity

Active proposals: Nebraska City Station Unit 2, Nebraska City Station Unit 3

Hastings Utilities

Headquarters in Hastings, NE

Controls 1 coal-fired generating station with 76 MW capacity

Active proposals: Whelan Energy Center Unit 2

Tenaska Energy

Headquarters in Omaha, NE

Active proposals: Taylorville Energy Center

"The headquarters of Kiewit Mining Group - the 8th-biggest coal mining company in the U.S. - is located in Omaha." Source Watch