Hallador Energy Co. on Friday morning announced plans to restructure its Sunrise Coal division, which will include idling two coal mines and cutting about 110 jobs.
The Terre Haute-based company said it will idle production at its Freelandville and Prosperity mines. The Freelandville mine is at Oaktown; Prosperity is at Petersburg.
The company said the moves are intended to strengthen its finances. Hallador will cut its capital involved in coal production by about $10 million in 2024, and it will focus its remaining underground coal production elsewhere, it said in a news release.
“As we transition Hallador from a coal production company to a vertically integrated independent power producer, we will idle production at our higher cost Freelandville and Prosperity Mines, reduce our capital reinvestment for coal production in 2024 by approximately $10 million, and focus our seven units of underground equipment on four units of our lowest cost production," the company wrote.
"We will further improve the cost structure of these units by increasing their run time from five and a half days per week to seven days per week. We expect our coal production to generate 4.5 million tons annually,” Hallador CEO Brent Bilsland said.
The company said its workforce reduction will be based on job category and personal performance ratings, and the cuts will primarily affect Sunrise Coal employees. Affected personnel will be notified in the next several days.
“We value the contribution of all of our employees and recognize that these actions, while the right thing to do for the company, are also very hard for many of our employees and their families,” Bilsland said.
Through its wholly owned subsidiary Sunrise Coal LLC, Hallador Energy Co. produces coal in the Illinois Basin for electric power generation. Through Hallador Power Co. LLC, it produces electricity at its 1 gigawatt Merom Generating Station.
© 2024 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.