Coal Revival: “There has to be a level of relief to the average citizen of Estevan,” says hotel owner

Jul 4, 2025

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Jeff Pierson, in front of Blackbeards, part of Estevan’s Days Inn.

ESTEVAN – As the owner and operator of one of Estevan’s longest-running hotels, Jeff Pierson has seen the ups and downs of the Energy City’s booms and busts. And with the impending demise of the coal industry now averted, things are looking up for the Days Inn.

“It’s obviously huge for our city. I think even surrounding area. I heard it might be coming. But it’s just great news,” Pierson said on June 19, the day after the announcement.

“I think it’s going to have quite an impact on our city, but not only the Days Inn, when they start doing the refurbishments that they plan on doing, but it’ll be great for the city as well.”

The June 18 announcement indicated that work would first begin on bringing Boundary Dam Unit 4 back into operation and recertifying it.

“Bring it on,” Pierson said. “You know, it hasn’t been the busiest times for the last number of years, so it would be very welcome.”

The coal announcement came just as two hotels in Estevan were taken out of the market for usage as drug treatment centres, thus notably reducing hotel capacity in the community. That’s already made a difference on the hotel scene, he noted.

“It takes us back a number of years as far as number of rooms the city has to offer right now. So there’s room, I believe, for every existing hotel to grow some, before we get in a problem where we don’t have enough rooms, he said.

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There had been several hotels built during the boom times, when both the Bakken oilfield was experiencing phenomenal growth at the same time the Boundary Dam Unit 3 project was under construction, from 2011 to 2014. The last ten years, however, have not been so kind to the hotel industry, especially due to the long-term downturn in the oil industry that started at the end of 2014.

“This should be a boost, overall, giving everyone confidence that we’re not losing all these jobs we thought we might, at one time.”

“Well, one could make the argument that it’s come full circle. You know, there was a coal transition fund to save our community. Take that for what it is. Estevan has the best chance of survival it’s had since oil hit the tank in 2015. There’s a lot to be positive now.

“If either of these two other uses of coal come to fruition, graphite is the one I’m the most bullish on you, right? So that comes into play, and now we’re better than we were before we started.”

The second is a coal-to-hydrogen project. And with the local mine no longer in danger in the near term, it means these projects could have time to be implemented. “There’s lots of coal,” Pierson said.

He also likes the idea of doing carbon capture for the purpose of enhanced oil recovery. “The demand’s there for lots more CO2 for enhanced oil recovery, so we could be a real player in that,” Pierson said.

“There has to be a level of relief to the average citizen of Estevan, I think. If you own a house, if I own a house, I own a big brick and mortar business here, for the years and years of uncertainty and one time, it looked like we’re going to get wiped off the map, quite frankly, between the hatred for coal and the hatred for oil. I mean, we would be left with a farming community, I guess.”

 

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  • 0097 Eagle Sky Ventures LTD
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