Estevan Mayor Roy Ludwig has been a coal miner for 44 years, and is considering taking an early retirement as part of the 25 positions currently 小蓝视频 laid off for Westmoreland Mining LLC.
As such, a transition away from coal-fired power generation in Estevan is a very personal thing for him.
Estevan will be getting $8 million of the $10 million in provincial coal transition funding, announced by Premier Scott Moe in Estevan on Friday. The other $2 million will be going to Coronach, which is in a similar predicament.
鈥淐oal is very important to the city of Estevan,鈥� said Ludwig. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been part of our community since the turn of the (20th) century, in the 1800s, we were mining coal.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge impact, to see, with the changes, with the carbon tax, with the changes of the regulations. The fact is our industry is under siege,鈥� he said.
Ludwig noted the impending 25 layoffs are just the beginning.
Asked if this money takes away hope for additional carbon capture and storage (CCS) at Shand and with Boundary Dam Unit 6, he said, 鈥淲e hope not. We will continue to work very hard on the clean coal. Again, we feel that鈥檚 our future in this community, clean coal. And now that the first unit has been put into place and is working very well, with the fact that we can sell it (CO2) to the oil industry to revitalize the oil wells in a given sector, we do feel it does have a future for us in this community and we鈥檒l continue to support that.鈥�
He noted that with oil companies willing to buy carbon dioxide (CO2), it will make clean coal more viable and put Estevan in the running for other technologies SaskPower is looking at.
鈥淲e feel that clean coal is definitely one of the ones in the running. That鈥檚 going to be our focus, going forward. And if we can top up the grid with nuclear, we鈥檒l be willing to look at that. The bottom line is jobs.鈥�
Asked if he would welcome a nuclear power plant in the Estevan area, Ludwig said overtures have already been made to New Brunswick to learn more about it, realizing it鈥檚 a 10-year window for a project like that to be initiated.
The federal government has a role to play in Estevan, he said.
鈥淲ith the carbon tax they鈥檝e put in place, with the fact they feel coal is black, and therefore it鈥檚 dirty, which we don鈥檛 agree with, we feel their responsibility should be pension bridging for people losing their livelihoods, and of course training and transition to new jobs, whatever that may look like, whatever that may be.鈥�
The federal 鈥淛ust Transition鈥� task force last year recommended pension bridging not just in Saskatchewan, but other coal mining operations, but Ludwig has not heard back from the federal government on it.
He said Estevan set up a coal transition committee a year ago with stakeholders in the community, as well as representatives from the federal government. 鈥淲e are looking at federal transition funding,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ne of the things we鈥檙e looking at is an incubator, for small businesses to start up in a given area. We will supply the office and allow them to get up and running, and hopefully their business will take off, and from there 鈥� they don鈥檛 need those additional resources,鈥� said Ludwig.
The incubator, with federal funds, would be put in place to help people get started in new businesses.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 something we have started on. As we come forward with more and more suggestions on different businesses, different technologies that we want to perfect, different ideas that maybe this will work in our community 鈥� those are the transition funding, at this point that we鈥檙e looking at getting.鈥澛�
Jody Dukart, international auditor and teller for the United Mine Workers of America Local 7606, which represents the unionized workforce at the Estevan Mine, was present for the announcement and subsequent working lunch with the premier. He said that 鈥淚t would be nice for the provincial government to follow what Alberta did,鈥� referring to assisting with bridging pensions for those taking early retirement.
Dukart said he realizes that can be a touchy subject with oilfield workers, as they have had a tough go of it but not received similar assistance. However, he noted 鈥淚鈥檝e got to fight for my members.鈥�
There are 325 union members at the Estevan Mine, he noted. He pointed out an average coal miner鈥檚 wage is between $110,000 and $120,000 per year.
