Kentucky Asks Supreme Court to Review Ruling on Coal Tax Break

Kentucky doesn’t discriminate against interstate commerce through its regulatory scheme making state coal more competitive by providing utilities with a severance tax discount, the state told the US Supreme Court.

Kentucky imposes a 4.5% severance tax on coal extracted in the state, while also directing its utilities to buy the most competitive coal. In February, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit deemed unconstitutional Senate Bill 257, which sought to make Kentucky coal competitive against coal from states without a severance tax by ordering the agency that regulates state utilities to pretend that it costs 4.5% less than ...