Our America’s Power Tour to Southwestern Pennsylvania took us to Charleroi, just 30 miles south of Pittsburgh, where we wanted to find out just how critical coal-based electricity is to the people who create jobs vital to our economic recovery.

We met with Mike Lee, President of Lee Supply Company, Inc., a small business that has distributed piping and pumping products to mining, environmental, industrial and municipal projects for the past 57 years. With 110 employees, Lee points out that the coal mining industry is 48 percent of his company’s business. He also emphasizes that increased energy costs due to legislation or regulations that hinders coal-based electricity could lead to layoffs and deter economic growth:

As Lee says, with advanced coal technology, there is no need to take coal out of our balanced energy portfolio. In fact, according to a study commissioned by ACCCE and several labor organizations (including the AFL-CIO, the Int’l Brotherhood of Boilermakers, IBEW and United Mine Workers), investments in advanced coal technologies would support over 4,100 jobs to $300 million in labor income to Pennsylvanians. And with nearly half of its electricity generated by coal, Pennsylvania’s continued investment in coal-based electricity can continue to keep the state’s electricity costs down, aiding the economic recovery of the region.