ST. LOUIS — Peabody Energy and Arch Resources said Tuesday they would abandon a joint venture aimed at boosting coal's competitiveness, after a federal court sided with a regulator that sued to block it.
The St. Louis-based coal producers in June 2019 said that they had agreed to combine their assets in Wyoming's Powder River Basin (PRB) and in Colorado for a joint venture to be operated by Peabody, which would own 66.5% of the business, with 33.5% owned by Arch. But the Federal Trade Commission alleged in an administrative complaint filed in February that the move would eliminate competition between the firms, two major competitors in the market for thermal coal used in producing electricity, in the Southern Powder River Basin (SPRB) in northeastern Wyoming and the nation's two largest coal-mining companies.
Peabody said in a statement Tuesday that the U.S. District Court upheld the FTC's efforts to block the venture.
CEO Glenn Kellow said Peabody would now focus "on continuing to be the low-cost PRB coal provider to best compete against natural gas and subsidized renewables. We remain committed to ensuring our customers continue to have access to a reliable and affordable fuel source."
In its own statement, Arch said it could sell its thermal coal assets. CEO Paul Lang also said Arch could look to reduce "the operational footprint at those mines, reduce their asset retirement obligations, and establish self-funding mechanisms to address those long-term liabilities."
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