CHARLESTON – Gov. Patrick Morrisey set a goal nearly six months ago for West Virginia to triple its electric-generating capacity, but the comprehensive plan is still in the works with a public comment period now closed.
The West Virginia Office of Energy sought public comment and recommendations as it works on developing a comprehensive energy policy around Morrisey’s 50 by 50 energy initiative. The public comment period opened on Dec. 9 and closed last Friday. According to the office, 71 public comments were submitted by Friday’s deadline.
During speeches in August in White Sulphur Springs and Wheeling, Morrisey unveiled his 50 by 50 initiative aimed at increasing base load electric generating capacity in the state from just under 16 gigawatts to 50 gigawatts by 2050.
“This 50 by 50, that’s a needle mover,” Morrisey said during an end-of-the-year press conference last Monday. “West Virginia needs to be America’s energy state … and to really be a driver of America’s energy renaissance.”
According to the solicitation for public comments, the Office of Energy said Morrisey’s 50 by 50 initiative will be an all-of-the-above energy, focused on traditional fossil fuel sources (coal, natural gas), and also include nuclear energy, hydrogen power, and renewable energy sources (wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric). The comprehensive energy policy being developed around 50 by 50 will also include a transmission plan.
“It will address the need for sufficient electricity transmission lines and natural gas transmission pipelines to support the increase in baseload electricity generation,” according to the Office of Energy’s solicitation for public comment. “It will also recommend locations for the placement of natural gas pipelines and electricity transmission lines in locations throughout the state that lack sufficient access and in areas where access to increased supplies of electricity or natural gas will spur manufacturing or other economic development.”
The comprehensive energy policy will include an energy security plan in order to protect against blackouts and other disruptions, and prevent potential threats to the electrical grid, such as cyber-attacks. This plan will include inventories of energy sources in the state and critical infrastructure; developing emergency protocols and coordination plans between local, state and federal agencies; and conducting tabletop exercises and other scenario planning.
The comprehensive energy policy will also include 25-year strategic development for each source of energy in West Virginia. These plans will focus on expanding electrical generation, infrastructure expansions, economic development incentives, site development, legislation and rule-making, workforce development, education, financial and tax incentives, safety, environmental mitigation, and energy security.
Since October, there have been several natural gas power plant projects announced that would add an additional five gigawatts to what is produced by the state’s power plants, including projects announced by FirstEnergy and a partnership between Kindle Energy, GE Vernova, Blackstone, and Wolf Summit Energy.
Morrisey’s 50 by 50 initiative and the comprehensive energy policy being developed by the Office of Energy is focused on making West Virginia the battery of the east coast and making the state more appealing to energy-intensive data center and AI projects.
House Bill 2014, a new law first proposed by Morrisey, is aimed at attracting high-impact industrial businesses and data centers to West Virginia along with microgrids to power the data centers using both fossil fuels and renewable energy generation. The rules governing these new data center and microgrid districts are still awaiting approval from the Legislature, with the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee slated to review these proposed rules next month.
“We’re going to be leveraging the intersection between energy and technology,” Morrisey said last week. “We’re excited about that and we’re going to keep going. We’re working on finalizing those plans. That’s been a big, big project.”
West Virginia only has one natural gas-fired power plant that provides electricity to retail customers in the PJM market, a regional electric transmission organization that operates a competitive wholesale electricity market in the northeast. West Virginia is one of 12 states and Washington, D.C., which are part of PJM.
The state has nine coal-fired power plants, with coal-fired power accounting for 86% of West Virginia’s total electricity net generation. In its public comment filing, the West Virginia Coal Association argued that existing coal-fired power plants should be prioritized as the foundational assets of the state’s power grid to ensure reliability and economic stability.
“West Virginia’s nine existing coal-fired power plants represent ‘premium assets’ in this age of increased power demand and should serve as the fundamental building block of any plan to increase generation within the State of West Virginia,” wrote West Virginia Coal Association President Chris Hamilton.
In its public comments, the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce advocated for a free-market approach that balances environmental stewardship with the practical needs of the state’s business community. The chamber expressed strong support for a diversified power generation strategy that utilizes both traditional fossil fuels and renewable resources to ensure grid reliability.
“The chamber applauds the goal of the plan to develop new generation capacity utilizing a combination of natural gas, nuclear, coal, geothermal, solar, and wind,” wrote West Virginia Chamber of Commerce President Steve Roberts. “The resource rich opportunities that West Virginia has need to be harnessed for growth of the state’s economy for the benefit of all its citizens.”
West Virginians for Energy Freedom, a coalition of groups that advocate for electric ratepayers, submitted public comments calling for any comprehensive energy policy to prioritize consumer autonomy and protections that protect ratepayers for bearing the financial costs for expanding electric generation. The group called for allowing ratepayers to purchase power from nearby customers, use of plug-in solar systems, and removing caps on net metering solar credit programs.
“Without taking a position on the wisdom of tripling energy capacity in 25 years, we caution that, if West Virginia ratepayers or taxpayers would be required to pay for any of power plants built under this plan, there be guarantees and protections in place to ensure that the plants will be useful and beneficial for West Virginians,” the organization wrote.