workshops
Repurposing Fossil Energy Assets Workshop
March 30, 2022
This national workshop, hosted by the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities, explored strategies for and the many benefits of repurposing legacy fossil fuel infrastructure, including closed coal mines, coal power plants, and orphaned oil and gas wells.
Leveraging and transforming legacy fossil fuel infrastructure creates the opportunity for a skilled workforce to access new sources of high-quality jobs and for states and communities to increase tax revenues. As clean energy, manufacturing, and other innovative companies grow, energy communities are an attractive option for locating new and expanding operations because they often offer:
- A skilled workforce with knowledge of industrial operations
- Entrenched community relationships
- Access to rail lines, ports, highways, and other distribution infrastructure
- Electrical interconnect equipment and direct grid connections
- Industrial land, facilities, and potentially even site and permitting licenses
This half-day workshop featured expertise on site remediation and reclamation, worker training and upskilling of dislocated workers, and the broad range of options for capitalizing on existing fossil fuel infrastructure.