Ricky Junquera, ricky.junquera@sierraclub.org
West Virginia - Yesterday, the WV Public Service Commission released its final order approving Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power’s request to have West Virginia customers pay 100% of the ELG retrofit costs at three coal power plants (Amos, Mountaineer, and Mitchell), which will keep those plants open until 2040. Even though the Kentucky and Virginia Commissions disallowed cost recovery as imprudent.
This news comes after the Kentucky Public Service Commission decided that “Kentucky Power failed to convince the Commission that the ELG project is the most reasonable, least-cost alternative that will enable Kentucky Power to comply with ELG rules.” In Virginia, the commission concluded that APCo failed to show that the ELG investments were reasonable and prudent “from an economic or resource adequacy perspective,” based on the record, which included deficiencies and uncertainties in the Company’s analysis.
"We find it is critically important to analyze the overall impact of this investment on both customer rates and reliability, and that the instant record is currently lacking in both regards (p.12)."
In response, Karan Ireland, Sierra Club Senior Campaign Representative for Central Appalachia released the following statement:
“While not surprising, this decision is shocking in its disregard for West Virginians. Our neighbors in Kentucky and Virginia have regulators to protect them from terrible deals like this, while our Public Service Commission has made clear that its primary concern is to prop up uneconomic coal plants while West Virginians pay the price for doing so.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.