THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

But with an improving economy and a good harvest plus a whole fracking lot of crude oil, railroads are having a difficult time moving the coal needed by existing plants in the current cold spell.

Ongoing rail service problems have left power plants from Minnesota to Texas low on coal as an early blast of winter weather hit the nation’s midsection this week.

Some fear the stage has been set for a repeat of last winter, when heavy snowfall and subzero temperatures crippled rail operations in the Upper Midwest and Chicago, which had ripple effects across the rest of the country.

Anticipating heavy electricity use this winter, coal customers and groups representing them have written letters to federal regulators in recent weeks to complain about delayed deliveries and low stockpiles.

“Our members are having a hard time receiving the coal they need to operate their plants,” said Will Coffman, senior government relations representative for the American Public Power Association, a trade group.

Last year’s problems have become this year’s problems as overall rail traffic rises to levels not seen since before the last recession and railroads struggle to handle large volumes of grain, coal, automobiles and increasingly, crude oil.

Utilities have focused their frustration particularly on BNSF Railway, the nation’s leading coal hauler and a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, a multinational conglomerate that oversees various subsidiaries.

BNSF and the nation’s other major railroads say they’re working to fix the problems, investing in new track and locomotives and hiring new employees. Responding to power companies’ complaints, BNSF said that coal service is improving.

“October was the best month for deliveries since August 2013,” the company wrote, “and we expect service improvements to continue.”

But heavy consumers of coal from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin say they’re not seeing enough progress and want federal regulators to force action. Some utilities want the federal Surface Transportation Board to force railroads to prioritize coal shipments over others, an action the rail industry is all but certain to oppose.

Isn't that special! Now they want government interference, with the railroads.