East Kentucky Power Co-Op buys 120,000 st barge coal from two suppliers

Houston — East Kentucky Power Cooperative bought 120,000 st of barge coal from two companies worth over $3.95 million, or $32.93/st, according to a regulatory filing made public Monday.

The Winchester, Kentucky-based utility told the Kentucky Public Service Commission it bought 90,000 st of 11,450 Btu/lb coal from Foresight Coal Sales for a base price of 131 cents/MMBtu, or $30/st. Total cost for the coal, which will come from one of four Foresight mines in Illinois, was $2.7 million.

Coal deliveries started on January 7 and will continue through March 31 to the Spurlock Station near Charleston Bottoms, Kentucky.

All shipments (minimum 1,550 st) will be loaded in Ingram Barge Company barges at the Sitran Dock on the Ohio River.

EKPC purchased 9,000 st of 11,800 Btu/lb coal at a base price of 176.7 cents/MMBtu, or $41.70/st, from Red Hill Energy's Sands Hill surface mine in Vinton County, Ohio.

Deliveries of the coal, which will be loaded at the Transload Dock on the Big Sandy River and delivered to the Spurlock Station, started January 7 and will continue through March 31.

EKPC and Red Hill also extended another contract through March 31 and added up to 21,000 st of barge coal.

Deliveries from the Sands Hill mine started on November 4, but the total deal is now for 30,000 st with loadings on the Big Sandy River at either the KCT Dock, Lockwood Dock, or Riverway Terminal. The contract price remained at the original deal of $41.70/st.

Total cost for the purchased Red Hill coal is just over $1.25 million.

In 2019, the Spurlock Station took delivery of 3.09 million st of 11,584 Btu/lb coal from 13 companies at an average price of $43.86/st, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration. Foresight delivered 552,507 st in 2019 to Spurlock at an average price of $45.13/st, while Red Hill Energy sold 72,392 st at an average price of $43.39/st.