In 1973 my brother worked for Bechtel Power and Light on the Point of Rocks power plant east of Rock Springs, WY. Their customers were Idaho Power and Light and Portland Power. Their customers put up the $$$ for building the plant and received all of the power from it. Wyoming got the jobs for building the plant and the jobs for 40+ years operating the plant and Idaho and Portland got electricity that they needed. A win/win for all around.
There has to be a long term plan drawn up in Board rooms. First, coal leases were quietly purchased in the 50's and 60's from sellers who didn't know a big project was coming their way. I mean..."the investors" were not going to alert the sellers. As the plan goes into motion ads and stories have to be taken out to convince the populace how this is going to be a great idea. It would be fun to go back and read those feel good propaganda ads on how burning coal
was the answer. I can remember POTUS Jimmy Carter telling the Nation because of OPEC etc., that the Nation needs to get behind Synfuels or the gas plant at Beulah ND. The "investors" told Carter what to say and when to say it.
Today, the "investors" have a plan to switch to wind energy with natural gas turbine peaking plants. It's not about Carter, Obama, Trump or even AOC. The "investors" have a plan and know 20 years from now how much money they are going to make.
Gentlemen, if we had a bug inside the "investors" board rooms and knew the future....we could invest wisely and never have to work again. My best advice, don't buy a duplex or the laundromat in Coal Strip Montana. Puget Sound energy of Seattle built the units at Coal Strip (2 of 4 already shut down) and have now moved on building a huge natural gas pipeline from British Columbia and are building wind turbines in western Montana.
but.. but ..but .. the wind turbines are inefficient and need to be subsidized. The plan will be revealed in good time.
I was one of the lucky ones. Graduated high school and the coal mines around me were ramping up. Worked there for 30 years. Great job, pay and benefits. Purchased my grandfathers land. On the abstracts and deeds it is recorded where my grandfather leased out the coal in the 1960's. The "investors" had a plan. Since that time no one has approached me to renew those leases. The "investors" have moved on.