The Times West Virginian quoted Ms Janine Orf director of investor relations for Patriot Coal Corporation as saying that when people flip on the lights in their homes or businesses, they may not realize where that electricity comes from or the process it goes through.

She added that "I think it's critical to the US because coal provides over half of electricity. It's extremely important."

Ms Orf said that Patriot Coal went public through a spin off on November 1st 2007 and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. In July 2008, the corporation acquired Magnum Co, which almost doubled Patriot's size in terms of tonnes of production.

She said that Patriot Coal Corporation has almost 4,000 employees in the United States, and doesn't have any operations outside of the country. More than 75% of the company's coal production is in West Virginia.

(Sourced from www.timeswv.com)