Texas mines, power plants watch as Hurricane Rita bears down

Washington (Platts)--22Sep2005

Coal and lignite mines, as well as coal-fired power plants, were keeping watch
and preparing for Hurricane Rita late Wednesday afternoon.

As of 5 p.m. EDT Wednesday, the National Weather Service said the Category 5
hurricane had winds reaching 165 mph. A hurricane watch had been issued from
Mansfield, Texas, to Cameron, La., and a tropical storm watch had been issued
east of Cameron to Grand Isle, La., and south from Mansfield to Brownsville,
Texas.

The hurricane was 600 miles east-southeast of Galveston and about 700 miles
east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas. It was headed west at 13 mph. 

Texas Westmoreland Coal has implemented its hurricane preparation plan at its
Jewett surface mine in East Texas in anticipation of Hurricane Rita's
landfall, projected for Saturday morning along the Texas coast. 

In the safety meetings with the mine's 375 employees, readiness is being
discussed, said Diane Jones of Westmoreland Coal, Texas Westmoreland's parent.
Work is proceeding while the company maintains a watch on the storm's track. 

The mine also is reviewing its drainage control measures and resetting pumps
as necessary in anticipation of high water, she told Platts Coal Trader.
Additionally, workers are putting equipment in places that are less
susceptible to high winds. 

The Jewett lignite minemouth operation supplies the Texas Genco-owned
Limestone generating station's two units. The four active pits produce between
7 million-8 million tons/year. 

Big Brown lignite mine in Fairfield, also in East Texas, is monitoring the
hurricane, said Tom Kleckner of TXU Power, owner of the mine and the Big Brown
coal-fired plant that generates 1,187 MW.  

Gibbons Creek, a 444-MW station in Bryan, Texas, owned by Texas Municipal
Power Agency, is bringing in additional equipment from Dallas for the
transmission group and tying down equipment around its boiler. The coal-fired
plant uses Powder River Basin 8,400 Btu/lb coal, delivered by BNSF Railway.
The Gibbons Creek mine is in reclamation. 

Staffing is at a normal level for all the operating stations in the San
Antonio City Public Service, including three coal-fired plants ? Calaveras
Lake, Deely and J.K. Spruce, said Bob McCullough, director of corporate
communications. Additionally, ERCOT, the regional electricity transmission
grid manager, has asked CPS to bring several of its units, primarily peaking
plants, on line as a contingency measure. The city is less than 100 miles from
the Gulf Coast.

Cleco Power has several sites in southwestern Louisiana, and it is watching
Rita's track carefully. The company still had more than 7,000 customers
without power from Hurricane Katrina as of Wednesday.

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