Major Appalachian Coal Company Files For Bankruptcy Protection

In what is the latest sign of problems for the U.S. coal industry, one of the country’s largest coal producers has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

West Virginia-based Revelation Energy LLC and its recently-formed affiliate, Blackjewel LLC, began the bankruptcy reorganization process in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of West Virginia on Monday.

The companies, owned and controlled by Milton, West Virginia, resident Jeff Hoops, a longtime coal executive, employ about 1,700 employees across its Central Appalachian coal mining holdings and two large Wyoming coal mines, which were acquired in 2017.

In court documents, Revelation Energy listed 24 metallurgical coal mines and processing and prep facilities in Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia, as principal assets that employ 1,100 workers. The Appalachian mines have an estimated 600 million reserve tons of coal. Last year, the company mined 3.3 millions tons. The federal government’s Energy Information Administration said in 2017 that the companies’ combined output made them the country’s sixth-largest coal producer.

The companies owe millions of dollars in coal royalties, for goods and services and in taxes, which could affect government revenue in Kentucky and Virginia. According to court filings, in Kentucky state officials are owed more than $6 million in taxes. In Virginia, officials are owed $1.6 million in taxes.

The companies estimate they owe $156 million for goods and services across all properties, including $6.1 million to Rich Creek, Virginia-based United Industrial Services, Inc., and $2.7 million to Walker Machinery in Belle, West Virginia.

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