WV Governor Sets Goal to Supercharge West Virginia Power Production by 2050

 

 

September 8, 2025 - WV Gov. Patrick Morrisey wants to “supercharge power production” in West Virginia by midcentury.

Morrisey, during his remarks at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Business Summit, set a goal of increasing the state’s electrical generating capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2050.

“Right now, West Virginia has 16 gigawatts of baseload generating capacity,” he said. “So it’s important for part of our economic development to have a strategic plan to change that. Not just to arrest the decline that we inherited, but to grow really fast.”

 

Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s goal: Increase the state’s electrical generating capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2050.
Photo: West Virginia Chamber of Commerce

 

The “50 by ’50” plan will focus on increasing the uses of “stable sources of fuel,” Morrisey said.

“Primarily coal, natural gas and nuclear,” he said. “By maintaining and building out our grid, our ‘50 by ’50’ initiative, that’s going to make West Virginia by far the leading per-capita exporter of energy in the nation.”

The initiative also will include “developing and expanding economical uses for coal” other than power generation, Morrisey said.

His administration plans to set up meetings “in the very near future” related to developing nuclear power-generating facilities in the state and will prioritize construction of additional power transmission lines, the governor said.

Increasing the state’s power-generating capacity will give it a competitive advantage for attracting economic development opportunities, Morrisey said.

“That’s going to position us to encourage investment in all parts of West Virginia and make sure that we’re tying that to the prime sites for technology and advanced manufacturing,” he said.

The governor said he plans to make a more “formal” announcement regarding the initiative in the coming weeks.

Todd Johnston, the governor’s deputy chief of staff and energy, infrastructure and competitiveness director, spoke about the plan in “broad strokes” the day prior.

“We’re going to explore everything from refurbishing our existing coal-fired plants to possibly building new coal (plants); there does seem to be an interest in that,” he said.

The state’s leading energy trade groups issued statements applauding the governor’s plan.

“West Virginia’s natural gas industry remains ready to meet the moment and put our low-cost, reliable resources to work in realizing Governor Morrisey’s ‘50 by ’50’ vision,” Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia President Charlie Burd said. “Make no mistake, amid soaring power demand forecasts, there’s a fundamental need for affordable, dispatchable baseload generation — the type of generation that natural gas is suited to deliver. We look forward to working with the governor’s team on policies and actions to attract the gas-fired generation to our state that’ll grow jobs, grow our tax base and boost our overall economy.”

“Governor Morrisey’s plan to grow West Virginia’s energy generation capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2050 is a dynamic approach to economic development which will supercharge our state’s coal industry and broader economy,” West Virginia Coal Association President Chris Hamilton said.

“The governor recognizes that there are benefits to using coal beyond just making electricity and we appreciate his commitment also working to develop and expand additional uses for coal. We look forward to working with the Morrisey administration and the Legislature to make this goal a reality,” Hamilton said.

The governor’s initiative aligns with the priorities of U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who focused on the need for increased electrical capacity during a visit to Morgantown in June.

While visiting the National Energy Technology Laboratory facility, Wright called the need to increase the nation’s electrical capacity the “second Manhattan Project,” in reference to the program that created the first atomic weapons.

“AI is the second parallel — a huge innovation where we can’t get second,” he said. “China put on about 90 new coal plants last year, and about a similar amount of new plants will come on this year. They’ve rapidly grown their electricity for industrial processes, also for AI.”

Wright also mentioned the possibility of restarting shuttered coal plants.

“We’re looking at that, and I think you will see some coal plants reopened,” he said.

His department will work to prevent the planned closure of facilities throughout the country, Wright said.

“There are like 40 coal plants that are supposed to close this year — and our biggest impact is going to be to stop the closure of most of those,” he said.

As U.S. energy secretary, he has the authority to prevent the planned closure of some power plants, Wright said.

“It’s been very politically fashionable to close, really for the last 15 or 20 years, coal power plants. Some of them are 100 years old and they should be retired,” he said. “But we’ve closed so many plants that are midstream in their lives that are critical to a secure (electric) grid.”

In April, President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders to reinvigorate the “beautiful clean coal industry,” prevent regulatory overreach by state governments, and strengthen the reliability of the national electric grid.

“These executive orders are a direct investment in America’s energy future and in the communities that have long powered our nation,” Trump said during the signing event.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., recently said the Trump administration’s efforts to support the coal industry will “keep our coal miners working and our coal facilities open. I think they will increase employment just because of increased production but also the increased use of coal.”

However, it’s unlikely any new coal-fired power plants will be built any time soon, Capito said.

“You and I both know that’s a pretty steep hill to climb,” she said. “There have been no new coal plants built in this country for quite some time. I think Longview might be one of the newest ones.”

The Longview Power Plant in Monongalia County, near Maidsville, went into operation in 2011.

There are nine coal-fired electrical generation facilities in West Virginia: Pleasants Power Station, Harrison Power Station, Mountaineer Power, John Amos, Mount Storm, Morgantown Energy Associates, Longview Power, Fort Martin Power Station and Mitchell Power.

West Virginia is the second-largest coal producer in the nation, after Wyoming, and accounts for 15% of U.S. total coal production, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

West Virginia has 16% of U.S. recoverable coal reserves, the third-largest state reserves after Wyoming and Illinois.

In 2023, coal-fired power plants accounted for 86% of West Virginia’s total electricity net generation. Renewable energy resources, primarily wind energy and hydroelectric power, contributed 7%, and natural gas also provided about 7%.