June 5, 2019 - East Kentucky Power Cooperative bought 270,000 st of barge coal worth nearly $11.97 million, or $44.33/st, from four companies for six-month deliveries to its Spurlock power station near Charleston Bottoms, Kentucky, according to a regulatory filing made public Tuesday.

The Winchester-based utility told the Kentucky Public Service Commission it bought 70,000 st of 11,500 Btu/lb coal from Alliance Coal's River View underground mine in Union County for a base price of 195.66 cents/MMBtu, or $45/st. Total cost for the coal was $3.15 million.

The deliveries for Alliance's Illinois Basin coal to the Spurlock station, which is for 10,000 st/month via Ingram Barges, started on June 1, and will continue through December 31.

All barge shipments (minimum 1,550 st) will be loaded at the River View Dock on the Ohio River.

EKPC purchased 70,000 st of 11,300 Btu/lb coal at a base price of 194.25 cents/MMBtu, or $43.90/st, from Foresight Energy's Sugar Camp MC No. 1 mine, Mach No. 1 mine, Shay Mine and Deer Run mine.

Deliveries of the coal, which is loaded at the Sitran Dock on the Ohio River, are for 10,000 st/month starting June 1 through December 31.

With a 30-day notice, the utility also has the option to increase its monthly deliveries from Foresight for any given month by up to 10,000 st, according to the filing. The additional tonnage would be bought at a base price of 189.6 cents/MMBtu, or $42.85/st.

Total cost for the purchased Foresight coal could reach over $6.07 million, including the optional deliveries worth $3 million.

EKPC also bought 70,000 st, or 10,000 st/month, of 11,500 Btu/lb coal from River Trading Company at a price of 201.52 cents/MMBtu, or $46.35/st.

The coal, worth $3.24 million, will come from the Docks Creek Terminal on the Big Sandy River with deliveries starting June 1 through December 31.

The remaining 60,000 st of 11,800 Btu/lb coal was sold by Red Hill Energy at a price of 176.7 cents/MMBtu, or $41.70/st. Total cost for the coal was $2.5 million.

The coal will come from Pritchard Mining Company's surface mine in Wayne County, West Virginia.

Deliveries, which are also loaded at Docks Creek Terminal, started on April 16 and will continue through October 16.

In 2018, the Spurlock plant took delivery of 3.51 million st of 11,668 Btu/lb coal from nine companies at an average price of $42.83/st, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration. Oxford Mining Company sold over 1 million st of 11,335 Btu/lb coal at $38.34/st, while EKPC bought 697,819 st of 11,811 Btu/lb coal from Foresight at $43.52/st.