The Internet is good for the coal industry?

So says Coal Facts 2008, an annual publication of the West Virginia Coal Association.

Coal generates more than half of all the electricity used in the United States, according to the report. In West Virginia, it generates 99 percent of all electricity.

Increasing computer Internet use is increasing national demand for power. Someone who spends 12 hours a week online uses 300 pounds of coal each year to generate the electricity for his or her computer.

Today, total demand for electricity from personal Internet users consumes 8 percent of all electricity generated annually.

West Virginia customers pay 5 cents for each kilowatt hour. Nationally, the average cost of coal-generated electricity is 9 cents per kilowatt hour.

Each pound of West Virginia coal can produce 1.25 kilowatt hours of electricity - enough to light up a 100-watt bulb for 10 hours, according to the report.

Since 1863, when West Virginia became a state during the Civil War, West Virginia miners have produced nearly 13 billion tons of coal. Today, coal reserves are estimated to be nearly 53 billion tons.

The coal industry has a major impact on the West Virginia economy:

n The industry pays nearly $2 billion in wages and benefits to its employees.

n Last year, the average miner earned $62,700 in wages.

n Every coal mining job generates between five and eight other jobs in the economy.

n The coal industry and coal-fired electric power plants produce nearly 60 percent of all corporate business taxes paid in West Virginia.

n West Virginia coal is exported to 25 different countries and represents half of all coal exported from the U.S. Some of these exports are high-quality metallurgical coal used to produce steel - coal that is only found in central Appalachia.

n Coal adds $3.5 billion to West Virginia's gross state product, nearly 13 percent of the total.

n Wyoming produces more coal that West Virginia. But the $6.7 billion annual sales value of West Virginia ranks first in the nation, because of the high-quality steam and metallurgical coal produced in the state.

* Coal companies paid severance taxes of $418 million, which came to six-tenths of one percent of the total value of the coal mined.

Role in the national economy

Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association, believes coal is a critical part of the national economy as well.

"We need to set a real emphasis on dependable electric generation, which is always there when you need it," he said.