“It’s clear that we must extend the useful lives of these existing coal fleet in West Virginia,” he said. “We have to do it because the power demands that our country faces are so severe.”

The “50 by ’50” plan, which the governor first announced last month during the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Business Summit and further detailed during a policy address Wednesday, aims to increase the state’s total electrical generation capacity from 15 gigawatts to 50 gigawatts by 2050.

There are nine coal-fired power plants 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.

The Longview Power Plant in Monongalia County, near Maidsville, is the newest coal-fired plant in the state, having gone into operation in 2011.

Many of the current plants, such as Mitchell, Amos and Mountaineer, were previously slated to close by 2028 but were granted permission by the West Virginia Public Service Commission to continue operating through 2040.

“Priority No. 1 is extending the useful life,” Morrisey said. “But I’d love to be able to open a number of coal-fired power plants. But, right now, we’re going in on the focus of expending the useful life.”

The governor acknowledged that expanding the state’s electrical generation capacity more than threefold in the next 24 years will not be an easy feat to accomplish.

“It is very difficult — let me be clear,” he said. “There are some who would say it’s too ambitious. But when I look at what the needs of the country are and what happens if we don’t successfully compete with China — we’re toast. We can’t let China defeat us. Period.”

During his policy address Wednesday, Morrisey said the “50 by ‘50” plan will “contemplate all sources of energy,” but coal, gas and nuclear will be favored over renewables.

The West Virginia Coal Association issued a statement shortly after Morrisey initially announced the initiative, saying it will “will supercharge our state’s coal industry and broader economy.”

“We appreciate the governor’s commitment to consider both refurbishing existing coal-fired power plants and building new coal plants in his efforts to meet his ambitious goals,” said association President Chris Hamilton.