December 9, 2025 - With coal largely being supplanted by natural gas as the fossil fuel of choice for the electric-producing industry, growth in the use of artificial intelligence and the data centers that back up those programs could be the key for both industries to prosper.

The Joint Committee on Energy and Public Works received updates Monday morning during its meetings in the House of Delegates chamber on the second day of December legislative interim meetings at the Capitol.

Charlotte Lane, chairwoman of the West Virginia Public Service Commission, provided lawmakers an update on the coal industry provisions within House Bill 2014, the Power Generation and Consumption Act passed by the Legislature earlier this year to attract new data centers and the microgrid power plants these data centers may need.

As part of the new law, coal-fired power plants are required to maintain an average 30-day supply of coal, with the PSC authorized to promulgate rules to enforce this requirement. The commission also is authorized to create rules governing the utilization of automatic adjustment clauses, fuel supply contract price indexes and fuel adjustment clauses in order to encourage increasing electric generation at coal-fired power plants.

“The legislation…also sets forth rulemaking,” Lane said. “The first one is talking about the capacity markets and why (Appalachian Power) should stay on its fixed resource requirement, and talking about the reliability pricing model that Mon Power has…those rules have to be filed for legislative approval, and we are evaluating and working on those rules.”

The new law also requires coal-fired power plants to operate at a 69% capacity factor, but that requirement is waived if doing so would increase costs on ratepayers. The PSC has a similar recommendation but it does not mandate the 69% capacity factor.

According to the PSC, 89% of West Virginia’s electricity comes from coal-fired electric generation. But Lane said the rate of retirements for coal-fired power plants across the country is happening faster than the pace of new base-load electric generation coming online to replace the lost gigawatts needed for the growth of the use of artificial intelligence programs and the data centers that serve as the backbone of the nation’s computer and internet systems.

Lane said the PSC has required Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power, subsidiaries of Columbus-based American Electric Power, and Mon Power and Potomac Edison, subsidiaries of Akron-based FirstEnergy, to maintain their existing fleet of coal-fired power plants in the state through 2040 if not longer.

Lane cited Senate Bill 542, passed by the Legislature in 2021, requires utilities to provide notice to the PSC before closing or permanently idling a coal-fired power plant. House Bill 3308, passed in 2023, states that a utility company cannot close, retire or abandon any power plant without approval of the PSC.

“The Public Service Commission is committed to keeping the coal-fired plants running,” Lane said. “I can tell you that we are not going to give that approval; that the effect of burning and keeping those plants open is not only is it good for reliability, but when you look at all of the advantages to the state of having those generation plants running, the economic effects and the adders on are just astronomical and that we would be very foolish to let those plants idle.”

But West Virginia’s reliance on coal-fired power for the bulk of its electricity has come with real costs, with electric rates increasing by twice the national average over the past 15 years according to a September analysis by the New York Times. This is due in part to contracts between utility companies and coal producers requiring power plants to buy coal when prices per ton are higher combined with the age and efficiency of aging coal-fired power plants.

Delegates Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, and Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, asked Lane whether it was appropriate to state the PSC would not agree to close a coal-fired power plant at the request of a utility even if it meant that closing the plant could save ratepayers in higher power bills in the future.

“What if the documentation in that case showed that it would save West Virginia ratepayers money?” Hansen asked.

“We always evaluate all of the facts, and as I have said, the implications and the economic effect overall of those plants on the state’s economy would not lead me to believe that it would be in the best interests of West Virginia to shut those plants down,” Lane said.

“So, you’ve already decided in a case that hasn’t even been filed how you would vote,” Hansen said.

“I think that I’ve been very clear when all of these issues have come up that I think our coal-fired plants are valuable to West Virginia and that we should keep them open,” Lane said.

“So, without the cases and the facts in front of you, you are saying right now that you are not going to close coal-fired power plants,” Young asked. “Is your job to work for the ratepayers or the power plants? Which interest is more valuable?”

Charlie Burd, the president of the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia, provided the committee information on the ability of the natural gas industry to meet the growing electricity needs of the grid and the data center/AI economy.

According to Burd, natural gas production in West Virginia has increased from 256 billion cubic feet in 2008 to 3.3 trillion cubic feet in 2024, making West Virginia the fifth largest natural gas producer in the nation. The state has the third largest natural gas reserves at 48 trillion cubic feet. But Burd said most of West Virginia natural gas is transported elsewhere.

“Let me just say that 90% of the natural gas we produce in this state goes to out-of-state markets, and we want to correct that,” Burd said. “We want to use way more of our natural gas in-state to benefit West Virginians to a greater degree.”

There are three natural gas power plant projects underway. FirstEnergy announced a 1.2-gigawatt natural gas power plant in Harrison County, though a site for the plant has not been named. That plant will be online by 2030-2031. The Wolf Summit project near Clarksburg will generate 625 megawatts of natural gas-generated power, with construction now beginning.

Plans are also on the table for additional natural gas-powered electric generation. The CPV Shea Energy Center project planned for Doddridge County would generate 2 gigawatts of power and require new transmission lines. The PSC granted a siting certificate for the project in 2024. And Longview Power applied for a PSC citing certificate in 2020 for a 1.2-gigawatt natural gas power plant in Monongalia County, though that project has been delayed.

“We are the fuel of choice of the future, period,” Burd said. “I know we have other power plants operating in the state, but none can react as quickly as we can, more efficiently than we can, and provide electricity at hopefully a cheaper cost to West Virginia citizens.”