March 18, 2025 - The Senate Energy Committee advanced a bill intended to push state economic development officials to bolster coke production and steelmaking in West Virginia.

Coke, which is produced by heating coal in the absence of air, is a crucial fuel and reducing agent in the steelmaking process.

“We believe we have a once in a lifetime opportunity right now to do things with our coal industry, our coal fired electric generation, our coking industry that we’ve never had before,” West Virginia Coal Association President Chris Hamilton told members of the committee.

Senator Rupie Phillips, R-Logan, agreed.

“To me, I think it’s a no brainer. This is a great deal. It’s a big economic development beyond and all the spin offs could be unreal,” Phillips said.

Senate Bill 678 establishes the Affordable Electricity and Economic Growth Act of 2025, directing the Department of Economic Development to identify and designate suitable sites for both coal electric generation and coke production facilities.

The bill sets specific criteria for site selection, focusing on proximity to resources, infrastructure and environmental considerations.

Finally, it mandates the Department of Economic Development to meet specific timelines for identifying these sites and outlines potential financial repercussions for non-compliance.

The legislation would supersede similar policies passed two years ago, the Coal Fired Grid Stabilization and Security Act of 2023.

While the earlier bill focused mostly on the development of coal electric generation, the newer bill expands the scope to include promoting coke production and steelmaking in the state.

The new Senate bill explicitly states that failure by the Department of Economic Development to meet the outlined requirements will result in a 25% reduction of state funding for the department in the following fiscal year. The earlier bill does not include such specific performance standards or consequences.

No one from the state Department of Economic Development testified about the bill.

The president of the West Virginia Coal Association, however, told senators that he has been disappointed over the agency’s carry-through on the earlier bill.

Hamilton said that after the Coal Fired Grid Stabilization and Security Act of 2023 went into law, “we’re not aware of the first effort they made to implement the bill, two years ago.

“They seem to be running from coal and running towards all these shining objects and all these new data centers and micro grids and renewable companies. That’s been their priorities.”

Senator Phillips responded by saying, “They forgot who brought them to the prom.”

Senator Joey Garcia, D-Marion, said he supports the bill but questioned the penalty that it could impose on the Department of Economic Development. He suggested that could doom the bill during the rest of its consideration in the Legislature.

“My fear is that as this legislation moves forward, it’ll be a feel-good piece of legislation that gets through this committee, but I think other people will have a hard time with that provision, and therefore I think it may hinder its ability to pass,” Garcia said. “I do think it should pass.”

Senator Craig Hart, the lead sponsor of the bill, said the penalty was placed in the bill as a motivator for economic development officials.

“The reason that this was placed in there is that, I believe this was passed as the coal fire Stabilization Act a couple years ago, and there has been, it seems, no effort to comply with the law the law,” said Hart, R-Mingo.

“If you pass a law and no one complies and those agencies continue to do what they want, as they want, with no punishment at all, why would they start now? So the reason this is in there is to put a little bit of teeth to the law, because apparently, just passing the law isn’t enough.”

The bill now goes to the Senate Finance Committee for further consideration.