Coal news and updates

The state Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee heard opposing perspectives at its meeting Thursday from coal industry and electric utility representatives on a bill it’s considering designed to keep West Virginia’s dwindling fleet of coal plants operating as long as possible by requiring in-state power producers to maintain 2019 coal consumption levels.

 

Senate Bill 542 would require power producers to file compliance plans every three years with the Public Energy Authority specifying their fuel supply and how 2019 coal consumption levels would be maintained.

 

West Virginia Coal Association and United Mine Workers of America representatives enthusiastically endorsed the bill to the committee, but representatives from Appalachian Power, FirstEnergy and Dominion Energy as well as state Public Service Commission Chairman Charlotte Lane all expressed reservations with the bill.

 

The committee opted to hold off taking action on the bill, and Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker, committee chair, recommended that the stakeholders present meet with Sen. Rupie Phillips, R-Logan, committee vice chair and sole sponsor of bill, to detail concerns further with an eye toward a potential compromise.

 

Chris Hamilton, president of the West Virginia Coal Association, praised the bill, arguing it was needed to support the state’s struggling coal industry.

 

The legislative findings in the bill state that West Virginia coal shipments have been reduced from 162 coal plants a decade ago to only 43 plants currently and that 18 coal-fired electric units have been forced to close.

 

Hamilton estimated that coal is still responsible for about 20% of the state’s economy and referenced a warning from Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power in a recent rate case that they may close the Mitchell coal-fired generating facility in Marshall County in 2028, 12 years ahead of schedule, if the companies choose to retire the plant rather than make an additional investment to ensure that the plant complies with federal guidelines limiting wastewater to continue operating beyond that year.

 

The Coal Association filed a petition to intervene in the rate case last month, saying that the demand for coal mined by its members could be “radically altered by the outcome of this proceeding.”

 

“This provides the Public Energy Authority with the opportunity to become a little more engaged with [utility resource planning] and use it to keep these plants open as long as we possibly can,” Hamilton said of SB 542.

 

“We got a lot of members mining coal. We want to keep them here and mining coal,” UMWA representative Chad Francis said in support of the bill.

 

Source : https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news