By Rich Heidorn Jr. and Michael Brooks

LEXINGTON, Ky. — FERC and the University of Kentucky’s EnVision Forum opened Monday with coal magnate Robert Murray lambasting the “feckless FERC” for refusing to rescue the coal industry and warning that “we’re going to have a lot of people die” if there is a repeat of the 2014 polar vortex because coal plants have been forced to retire.

FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee, who listened impassively to Murray’s emotional 20-minute speech, insisted afterward he couldn’t have been happier with his comments.

“Thank you, Bob, for your passion and your candor,” Chatterjee, who organized the conference in his native state, said before introducing the next speaker. At too many conferences, Chatterjee said, panelists “don’t truly speak their mind.”

“What I want is what Bob just did — pull no punches. I’m sure others have different points of view. Don’t be afraid to be critical.”

He needn’t have worried. The morning panels featured vigorous discussions on eminent domain and pipeline siting; the viability of a national energy policy — and Murray’s insistence on the need for coal.

Murray, CEO of Murray Energy, noted that FERC opened a docket 20 months ago to address grid resilience after the commission rejected Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s request for an order requiring cost-of-service payments to coal and nuclear generators. “FERC should have already directed the regional transmission and independent system operators to conduct analyses designed to determine whether their grids are resilient against events having high impacts but low frequencies,” he said. “The commission could provide guidance regarding the scenarios and assumptions for this analysis, but it hasn’t.”

Murray said the electric industry’s faith in natural gas is misguided. “These wells only last 10 years, and they’re five years old now. So, we have a five-year national energy policy.”

He also hinted at a possible bankruptcy announcement, saying that despite having the lowest costs in the coal industry, “you’ll be reading about us in the days ahead. We’ve already announced that we have a forbearance agreement with our lenders. Lowest cost [and] didn’t make it.” The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the company entered into the forbearance agreements to buy more time to avoid a bankruptcy filing “after skipping an interest payment on $1.7 billion in debt.”

In a later panel discussion, Michael Polsky, CEO of independent power producer Invenergy, said his company started building coal- and gas-fired generation and now does gas and “a lot of renewables.”

“Mr. Murray can say whatever he says. … Coal is just not the future. You’ve got to admit the reality at some point. … Chatterjee wanted reality. Coal is not the reality.”

Still, there was a heavy emphasis about the importance of coal to the state and to the U.S., and the need to value coal plants’ supposed benefits to the reliability to the grid. Many speakers cautioned that the increasing penetration of renewables was unaffordable to the state’s ratepayers.

“Low-cost energy is the key” to eliminating poverty, “whether it be in this country or in other countries,” Joe Craft, CEO of coal production company Alliance Resource Partners, said during a luncheon speech. “We should not convert our low-cost, reliable system that has been proven to be an economic engine that has made our economy the envy of the world … to a high-cost energy strategy, one that may not be reliable as well.”

“Shutting down coal plants and shutting down coal mines is inconsistent with sound business principles because it’s imprudent,” said Frederick Palmer, a former lobbyist for Peabody Energy and a senior fellow with the Heartland Institute. “And how do I know it’s imprudent? Because we just had a million people in the state of California that didn’t have electricity for a week or two weeks.” (Palmer was referring to Pacific Gas and Electric’s public safety power shutoff, done to prevent the utility’s equipment from sparking wildfires during a period of windy, dry conditions in the state. It had nothing to do with California’s generation sources.)

Who’s Who

The conference, which included 12 panels, attracted a who’s who of electricity policymakers, including numerous state regulators and trade groups, former FERC Commissioners Colette Honorable, Phil Moeller, Joseph T. Kelliher, Vicky Bailey, Tony Clark, Robert Powelson, Jon Wellinghoff and Suedeen Kelly; NERC CEO Jim Robb; interim PJM CEO Susan Riley; ISO-NE CEO Gordon van Welie; MISO CEO John Bear; and Carl Monroe, chief operating officer of SPP.

Also featured were American Electric Power CEO Nick Akins, Vistra Energy CEO Curt Morgan and Calpine CEO Thad Hill. (See Chatterjee Coal Country Forum to Consider ‘Energy Transition’.)

[Editor’s Note: RTO Insider will have additional coverage of the conference later this week.]

Showcase for University

The forum, which was held in conference rooms in the University of Kentucky’s football stadium, also provided a showcase for the university, where Chatterjee’s parents worked as professors and cancer researchers.

“This is what we’re all about: convening experts, disseminating knowledge and seeking solutions. It reflects our innate desire to expand what is possible,” university President Eli Capilouto said in opening remarks.

The forum was sponsored by FERC and the university’s Center for Applied Energy Research, which Capilouto said “develops technologies to improve energy efficiency, protect the environment and create new economic opportunities that [improve] the lives of Kentuckians.”

“We’re not just thinking about solutions,” said Capilouto. “We’re making them.”

Displaced Workers

The conference also featured several panels that were unusual for an industry event and covered topics not in FERC’s jurisdiction. Among them was a panel on transitioning coal and nuclear plant workers and miners displaced by the shifting generation mix into different lines of work. Another was dedicated solely to the electricity industry in Kentucky, featuring several utility executives and Public Service Commissioner Talina Mathews. Others discussed the energy industry’s intersections with telecommunications, water and the opioid epidemic.

“People have been able to come here and establish connections, get to know each other, and I think that’s really, really important,” Chatterjee told reporters. “I’m hopeful that speakers will make connections and will continue this dialogue beyond here.”

Closing out the EnVision Forum, Chatterjee said attendees told him that “they had never been to a conference like this before, with this diversity of participants all under one roof, all engaging in meaningful dialogue and conversation. I hope that relationships were formed; I hope that conversations were started that will continue into the future.”

Chatterjee also said he wanted “people to appreciate how gorgeous Kentucky is. It is not an industrial hellscape.” Many of his fellow native Kentuckians who spoke on panels echoed that sentiment.

“For the folks in the room who aren’t from Kentucky, sometimes Kentucky gets a bad reputation because people outside the state just hear ‘coal’ … ‘dirty old company, dirty old state. It has nothing but coal in it.’ And that’s just not who we are,” Big Rivers Electric CEO Robert Berry said.