The cost of keeping West Virginia coal plants online — and whether to pay that cost

Curtis Tate covers energy and the environment for the ReSource, a West Virginia Public Broadcasting partner station. In a June 9, 2021, article, he considers the fate of three West Virginia coal-fired power plants: The Mitchell Plant in Moundsville; the Mountaineer Plant in New Haven; and the John Amos Plant in Winfield. 

American Electic Power subsidiaries have asked the WV Public Service Commission to approve $317 million to pay for retrofits to keep the plants operating until 2040. Utility customers in West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky would pay the cost.

Power plant workers, coal miners, trade associations, and state and local officials have pleaded with the commission to approve the work. Yet is subsidizing coal-fired energy a wise path? 

Tate writes: "More coal-fired power plants face closure as the nation transitions to cleaner sources of energy. Coal is falling out of favor to lower-carbon or no-carbon sources of electric power in an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change. The fate of the Mitchell, Mountaineer and Amos plants rests principally in the hands of the commissioners in West Virginia, who will decide whether the state’s utility customers will pay more to keep them operating into the next decade."

READ ON:  “West Virginia Coal Plants Need Upgrades. Three States Will Decide Their Fate.”