Business editor

mbradwell@observer-reporter.com

When J. Brett Harvey took the helm of the Consolidation Coal Co. a decade ago, one of his first moves was to change its name to Consol Energy Inc. to better reflect the direction in which the 145-year-old company was moving.

Today, Consol Energy is still very much a coal company, but with its 80 percent investment in CNX Gas, a Consol spin-off, the company has been tapping into what Harvey refers to as its "treasure chest" of resources that were always there. However, Harvey is adamant that the company's coal business is here to stay.

"We are going to continue to mine coal for the uses of society," Harvey told members of the Southpointe CEO Association Wednesday, who honored him with their World Class CEO Award during a dinner at the Hilton Garden Inn. "People will use coal in the future in a much different way, but we'll still use it."

Noting that the company, which posted $4 billion in revenue last year, produced 65 million tons of coal, he added that it is now Pennsylvania's second-largest producer of gas. It holds 500,000 acres of land and 19 mines and is the largest coal producer in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia, where it also is the largest producer of gas.

But as the head of a corporation that is an old-line industrial company, Harvey has to wage a battle on several fronts to get his message across that coal, despite the environmental concerns, is the foundation for the biggest share of America's energy needs, especially when it comes to producing electricity.

"People have a disconnect between the use of electricity and the use of energy," said Harvey, who said he recently visited a 25-year-old investment professional in California, who he said told him, "In California, we use electricity; we don't use coal.'"

Tom Hoffman, Consol's senior vice president for external affairs who introduced Harvey to the audience, recalled participating with Harvey on pitches to New York investment firms during the dot.com era, when everyone seemed to expect big returns quickly. During one visit, after being told that annual growth in the coal industry was 2 percent, one money manager described the growth as "a big yawn" and left the room.

With Consol's senior management sitting alone in the room, Hoffman said Harvey turned to the men and said, "Well, I guess we're not the center of the universe."

But a decade later, long after many of the high-tech ideas failed to pan out, Harvey and others in the coal industry can argue that they have a lot to do with making the world turn, especially in the U.S. He noted that 50 percent of electricity is produced by coal, another 20 percent from nuclear, 20 percent from natural gas, 6 percent from hydropower and 1 percent from wind and solar.

While acknowledging that all of the sources are an important part of the country's energy mix, Harvey said coal will continue to be the energy foundation for years to come.

"After 200 years, you'll never be able to replace the base," he said, noting that the abundance of coal between Wyoming's Powder River Basin and the Pittsburgh Coal seam is about 4.5 billion tons.

About 30 percent of coal is on public lands, Harvey said, noting that Congress is debating whether to authorize mining it.

While the bulk of Consol's business is selling its coal to American utilities, Harvey said it also sells its product internationally.

"Europe would love to have the resources we have," he said. "France and Germany are still building coal plants, and they want Pennsylvania coal."

"Seventy percent of what we do is for utilities that feed this region and the industries that are here," he said, adding that new consumer products like plasma TVs keep domestic use high.

That demand has put Consol in a hiring mode, with Harvey stating that it is hiring 1,000 people a year, partly to replace a baby-boomer work force that is entering retirement.

And there's little chance that the company won't have coal to mine in the Pittsburgh coal seam.

"Consol owns 75 percent of what's left," Harvey said.

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