as otc pink current btuuq industry coal mining founded 1883 1883 chicago illinois us headquarters st. louis missouri us key people glenn l. kellow president and ceo 1 gregory h. boyce executive chairman revenue us 5.6 billion 2015 2 operating income us 135.1 mil . 2014 3 net income us 777.3 mil . 2014 3 total assets us 13.19 billion 2014 3 total equity us 2.72 billion 2014 3 number of employees approx . 7 100 2015 2 website www.peabodyenergy.com peabody s north antelope rochelle coal mine wyoming in 2005 from iss . a portion of arch coal s black thunder mine complex is visible to north left . peabody energy corporation nyse btu headquartered in st. louis missouri 4 is the largest private sector coal company in the world . 5 its primary business consists of the mining sale and distribution of coal which is purchased for use in electricity generation and steelmaking . peabody also markets brokers and trades coal through offices in china australia germany the united kingdom indonesia india singapore and the united states . other commercial initiatives include the development of mine mouth coal fueled plants the management of coal reserve holdings and technologies to transform coal to natural gas and transportation fuels . the coal produced by peabody energy fuels approximately 10 % of the electricity generated in the united states and 2 % of electricity generated throughout the world . in 2014 peabody energy recorded sales of 249.8 million tons of coal . 3 peabody markets coal to electricity generating and industrial customers in more than 25 nations on six continents . as of december 31 2014 the company had approximately 7.5 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves . 6 peabody energy maintains ownership of majority interests in 26 surface and underground mining operations located throughout the united states and australia . 7 in the united states company owned mines are located in wyoming colorado arizona new mexico illinois and indiana . peabody s largest operation is the north antelope rochelle mine located in campbell county wyoming mining more than 117 million tons of coal in 2014 . 8 peabody spun off coal mining operations in west virginia and kentucky into patriot coal corporation in october 2007 . in october 2011 peabody acquired a majority ownership stake in queensland based macarthur coal ltd which specializes in the production of metallurgical coal primarily seaborne pulverized injection coal . 9 after being named to fortune magazine s list of america s most admired companies in 2008 10 peabody energy saw 787 million of losses was removed from s & p 500 and had its ratings downgraded to underperform and negative by goldman sachs standard & poor bank of america and others in 2014 . 11 despite this peabody energy earned energy company of the year and ceo of the year at the 2014 platts global energy awards . 12 the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on april 13 2016 . 13 14 contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1883 1959 1.2 1960 2000 1.3 2001 present 2 lines of business 3 black mesa controversy 4 environmental record 5 marketing public relations and lobbying 5.1 american legislative exchange council 5.2 advanced energy for life 5.3 climate change denial 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit early years 1883 1959 edit the peabody energy company was originally founded as peabody daniels & company in 1883 by francis peabody the son of a prominent chicago lawyer and a partner . 15 the company bought coal from established mines and sold it to homes and businesses in the chicago area . in the late 1880s francis peabody bought out his partner s share of the business and the company was incorporated in the state of illinois under the name peabody coal company in 1890 . in 1895 it began operations of its first mine in williamson county illinois and later expanded its operations in illinois . 16 in 1913 the company won its first long term contract to supply chicago edison company the predecessor to utility commonwealth edison . 17 the company s growth continued after world war i and the corporation went public for the first time in 1929 with a listing on the midwest stock exchange and in 1949 was listed on the new york stock exchange . 18 despite being ranked eighth among the country s top coal producers in the mid 1950s peabody began to lose market share to companies operating cost efficient surface mining operations . 16 to address the situation it entered into merger talks with sinclair coal company . a merger between the two companies occurred in 1955 resulting in the transfer of peabody s headquarters to st. louis missouri . the merged company retained the peabody name . 18 under the leadership of chairman russell kelce the company expanded production and sales . 16 the bucyrus erie 3850 b power shovel named big hog went to work next door to paradise fossil plant for peabody coal company s peabody energy sinclair surface mine in 1962 . when it started work it was received with grand fanfare and was the largest shovel in the world with a bucket size of 115 cubic yards . after it finished work in the mid 1980s it was buried in a pit on the mine s property . 1960 2000 edit in 1962 peabody expanded into the pacific with the opening of mining operations in queensland australia . 16 during this period peabody also forged an equity partnership with the japanese trading company mitsui & co. ltd. and the australian construction company thiess holdings . 19 in 1968 the company was purchased by the kennecott copper corporation . however the u.s. federal trade commission challenged the purchase as an antitrust violation . in 1976 the ftc ordered kennecott to divest itself of peabody . the newly created peabody holding company purchased the peabody coal business of kennecott for 1.1 billion and a consortium of companies controlled peabody holding . 18 in the 1980s peabody expanded its operations in the eastern united states acquiring the west virginia coal mines of armco inc in 1984 . 20 the company sought to broaden its metallurgical coal portfolio through the purchase of eastern gas and fuel associates seven west virginia mines in 1987 . 16 peabody also expanded westward opening the north antelope and rochelle mines in the low sulfur wyodak seam in the heart of wyoming s powder river basin in 1983 and 1984 respectively . 19 the passage of the clean air act amendments in 1990 prompted the closure of some peabody mines . however other mines under its ownership were able to remain in operation due to the implementation of new equipment and procedures that reduced sulfur dioxide emissions . 16 stricter requirements outlined in phase ii of the legislation also prompted peabody to invest in emissions reducing technologies . in 1990 the u.k. based conglomerate hanson plc one of the owners of peabody holding at the time bought out the rest of the owners . 21 in 1993 peabody energy expanded their holdings in the pacific with the acquisition of three mines in australia and subsequently developed a fourth operation in new south wales . 22 peabody also expanded its operations domestically with acquisitions in new mexico in 1993 and wyoming in 1994 and assumed a stake in black beauty a midwest producer in response to increased demand for metallurgical coal . 16 23 2001 present edit in 1996 hanson demerged peabody and eastern group under the name the energy group . when txu acquired the energy group peabody was sold to lehman brothers merchant banking partners . the company filed an initial public offering ipo in may 2001 and since this time it has operated as a publicly traded company . 16 in 2002 peabody launched its peabody energy australia coal co. following the acquisition of the wilkie creek mine in queensland s surat basin . 24 the north goonyella coal mine was acquired by peabody in 2004 . 25 in october 2006 peabody completed an acquisition of excel coal limited an independent coal company in australia . peabody paid 1.52 billion for excel and also assumed 227 million of excel s debt . at the time excel owned three operating mines and three development stage mines in australia . additionally excel had an estimated 500 million tons of proven and probable coal reserves . 26 as of 2011 peabody s australian mining operations are located in queensland and new south wales . most of the company s australian production is metallurgical coal . 27 the company also advanced a number of coal to liquids and coal to gas projects to reduce emissions during the decade . 28 on august 30 2007 ernie fletcher the governor of the u.s. state of kentucky signed into state law a bill that will provide approximately 300 million in incentives to peabody to build a coal gasification plant in that state . 29 the resulting incentives were provisioned in the form of breaks on sales taxes incentive taxes and coal severance taxes . 29 in 2007 peabody and a consortium of municipal electric cooperatives began construction on the 1600 megawatt prairie state energy campus clean coal project in lively grove illinois . 30 the company now retains five percent equity stake in the project which is expected to begin generating power for customers in 2011 . 31 at the 2010 world energy congress peabody ceo gregory boyce proposed a plan that advocated for the expanded use of coal worldwide placing emphasis on geographic areas with limited or no access to electricity . 32 on april 13 2016 it reported its revenue tumbled 17 percent as coal price fell and lost 2 billion dollars on the previous year . 33 it then filed chapter 11 bankruptcy on april 13 2016 . 33 lines of business edit peabody energy s world headquarters is in st. louis and as of 2014 it also maintains offices in london beijing singapore brisbane sydney essen balikpapan and jakarta . 34 35 36 in the u.s. west peabody operates powder river basin operations in wyoming as well as other mining operations in arizona and new mexico . operations in the u.s. midwest consist of mines in indiana and illinois . peabody also operates a single underground mine in colorado . all of these assets are occupied with the mining preparation and selling of coal to utility companies or steelmakers . 35 peabody s australian operations consist of metallurgical and thermal coal mining operations in queensland and new south wales . purchasers of its coal product include australian utility companies or steel producers . 37 the trading and brokerage function is primarily concerned with the brokering of coal sales trading coal and freight or freight related contracts . 38 a smaller division of peabody energy deals with mining export and transportation joint ventures energy related commercial activities and the management of peabody s operations and holdings . with growing demand for coal across asian markets especially in china indonesia and india peabody has expanded its presence in asia through offices in china indonesia and singapore . 38 black mesa controversy edit main article black mesa peabody coal controversy in 1964 peabody energy subsidiary peabody western coal signed a series off lease agreements with the navajo tribe and two years later with the hopi tribe for mineral rights as well as use of a water source on the black mesa a 2.1 million acre highland in northeast arizona . 39 the company s contracts with the navajo nation and hopi tribe were approved despite opposition from those who disputed the authority of the official tribal councils . 40 they were also negotiated by natural resources attorney john sterling boyden who represented the hopi tribe but whose firm had also represented peabody in other legal matters contributing to allegations of a conflict