Al Gore's prize-winning film on global warming was more than two years off when the Virginia legislature in 2004 backed a coal-burning power plant in Southwest Virginia.

A Bristol senator said a plant would help the region's economy and support Virginia's sagging coal industry. Coal mining, once the economic mainstay of Virginia's far western tip, has been in decline for several years. In response, localities have scrambled to attract other industries.

At its peak in 1990, a century into mining, production totaled 46.5 million tons and miners numbered 10,342. By comparison, in the 12 months that ended last month, fewer than half that many miners produced 24.6 million tons. Yet, 50 percent of the nation's electricity comes from coal.

Mining continues to provide some of the highest-paying jobs in the seven most southwestern counties.

The average weekly wage of $1,064 is about $55,000 a year. But many coal companies pay retention bonuses for skilled workers, and a miner with overtime (not uncommon in the tight labor market) can earn $100,000 a year. Benefits include fully paid health insurance, life insurance and 401(k) plans.

"Coal may not be king, but it is still chairman of the board," quipped Norton businessman George "Pedro" Hunnicutt, whose business interests include a Pepsi-Cola bottling plant and real estate.

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In response to coal's decline, Southwest Virginia communities are working on several fronts to bring new jobs to the area.

The diversification of the economy has changed the area's single-industry culture into one that is less isolated and more mainstream America, said Garrett Sheldon, chairman of the social sciences department at the University of Virginia's College at Wise.

Once forced to choose between mining or leaving the area, Southwest Virginians are finding work at one of three area prisons, in manufacturing, tourism or information technology.

The region is marketing itself to technology companies as a low-cost alternative to sending work offshore, said Jonathan Belcher, executive director of the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority in Lebanon. Created by the legislature in 1988, the agency is funded partly by a state tax on the extraction of coal and natural gas.

"There is a lower cost of living here, it's a beautiful scenic area, there is no traffic congestion and you can get a very good house for much less," he said.

Technology companies can hire qualified workers in coalfield localities for 30 percent less than they would have to pay in Northern Virginia or other metropolitan areas, Belcher said.

Information technology jobs at CGI's software-development center and Northrop Grumman's data center, both in Russell County, pay an average weekly wage of about $960. That is two-thirds higher than the average wage in the region, $577.

Bruce Russell, 43, of St. Paul, was one of the first graduates of a software-development program at Southwest Virginia Community College in Tazewell County. Russell, a former teacher, now works at CGI with a software-testing group.

"It's been a change but . . . a positive change," Russell said of his new job, which has increased his income substantially. "I have benefited and my family has benefited."

The economic changes haven't changed the people, though, said Sheldon of U.Va.-Wise, a Wisconsin native who has taught at the college since 1983. "They are still very friendly and very down-home. The newcomers kind of adapt to [the culture] not change it."

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Localities and businesses are working with the region's two community colleges, U.Va.'s College at Wise, local school systems and some new institutions to train workers.

Dickenson County, for example, is opening a 40,000-squarefoot job training and energy research center near Clintwood. It will be used, in part, to train workers for the county's fast-expanding natural gas industry.

In the 1999 fiscal year, the county collected taxes for gas extractions of $826,412 and for coal of $2.12 million. By 2007, collections for gas were $4.12 million and for coal $4.7 million.

Dickenson has nearly 1,800 natural gas wells, 1,000 more than 10 years ago. Across the coalfield counties last year, according to preliminary state figures, 5,734 natural gas wells produced 112.1 billion cubic feet of gas, up 9 percent from the previous year.

This month, Equitable Resources, a gas developer, will break ground for a regional headquarters near Clintwood. The Pittsburgh-based company operates 2,500 gas wells and employs 115 people in six Southwest Virginia counties. It added 27 workers last year, and plans to hire 42 more workers this year, spokesman Wayne Desbrow said.

"We've kind of had a second coming of natural resources in the county with gas," said Dickenson County Administrator Mark Vanover.

Tourism is another economic engine that coalfield localities are trying to fine tune. Ironically, it, too, is linked in part to natural resources -- the region's beauty.

Additionally, the region's mountain music tradition and Dickenson native son and bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley have attracted visitors from this country and abroad, said Dickenson Chamber President Rita Surratt, who runs a bed and breakfast.

The county also is working on building a network of scenic trails, including a 325-mile Virginia Coal Heritage Trail that runs through all coalfield localities. Coal mining and railroading museums also are in the works.

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Coal has a rich past and the industry has more life ahead of it, said Mike Quillen, chairman and chief executive officer of Alpha Natural Resources Inc. of Abingdon, the largest producer of Virginia coal.

Half the nation's electricity comes from burning coal, and it will be needed for years to come. Moreover, a rising global demand for coal has doubled prices and made it worthwhile to go after thin Virginia coal seams that could not be mined profitably in the past, Quillen said.

A ton of Virginia coal that sold for $25 a few years back can bring $70 to $80 at power plants and more than $100 at plants producing coke for steel mills. Virginia coal has a reputation as some of the world's best with its high-heat and low-sulfur content and desirability for use in steel-making, Quillen confirmed.

"We're going to have a viable industry for a period of time," he said.

The legislature's 2004 coalfields power-plant endorsement is not the first time it has supported the region's declining coal industry. Previously, lawmakers created state tax credits for companies mining thin seams and utilities burning Virginia coal.

Dominion Virginia Power is the only company taking advantage of current incentives. The utility's proposed plant near St. Paul in Wise County, like other proposed coal-burning plants nationwide, has brought vociferous opposition from environmental groups.

The plant also has drawn opposition from some residents who worry about potential air and water pollution and increased strip mining, which permanently alters streams and mountains and brings its own set of environmental problems.

Frank Taylor, an actor who lives on a Clinch River farm just below the plant site, said he believes opposition to the project will grow as people learn more about potential environmental hazards. A yet-to-be illuminated concern, Taylor said, is a proposed landfill for power-plant waste above abandoned underground mines.

The region's politicians and businesspeople, on the other hand, say support for the plant is overwhelming.

Hunnicutt said economic developers have repeatedly sought ways to add value to local resources. The chance to export power while getting the tax and employment benefits from generating it is "virtually the holy grail of economic development for Southwest Virginia," he said.

"Most of the people down here think as much of the environment as anybody, but there is no charm in starving to death in a pristine environment," Hunnicutt said.
Contact Greg Edwards at (804) 649-6390 or gedwards@timesdispatch.com.