Western Fuels Association, Inc.

The National energy policy of the mid-1970s and 1980s encouraged utilities to use America's abundant coal reserves for generating electricity. The Federal government, as a matter of policy, discouraged use of imported oil and natural gas while encouraging coal combustion and nuclear fission for electricity production, and exploring the use of tar sands and oil shale, renewable resources, and coal gasification.

This was precisely the era during which rural electric cooperatives and municipal utilities – which had enjoyed preference in the use of hydropower generated at Federal dams – were told no new commitments would be made in development of additional hydropower projects. If they needed more electricity (and they did), they would have to produce it themselves. In good-faith response, consumer-owned utilities invested close to $40 billion in state-of-the-art coal-fired power plants, coal mines, and coal transportation facilities.