Amid rate hikes for consumers, Sierra Club Challenges West Virginia PSC's Costly, Uneconomic Coal Directive

Charleston, West Virginia – The Sierra Club, alongside West Virginia residents and ratepayers Bruce Perrone and Rosanna Long, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in the Southern District of West Virginia against the Commissioners of the Public Service Commission of West Virginia (PSC) for their 2021 directive that coal plants operate at 69% capacity – far beyond the average of coal plants in the region. The Sierra Club’s suit argues that this mandate is interfering with FERC’s jurisdiction, undermining laws and safeguards put in place to protect the public from unjust rate increases, and leading to higher electricity bills across the region.

The PSC’s directive requires Appalachian Power Company (APCo) and Wheeling Power Company (WPCo) to fire their coal power plants at 69% capacity factor, regardless of whether it makes economic sense. Moreover, the PSC threatened that if utilities did not abide by the 69% directive, the Commission wouldn’t approve proposed rate hikes to recoup rising costs. APCo and WPCo’s seven-year average capacity factors for each of its coal-fired units is 55% or below, which means the PSC is forcing utilities to dispatch electricity from coal-fired power plants at an uneconomic rate. West Virginia customers are paying the price as APCo and WPCo subsidize the increased costs of running coal-fired power plants more often, passing the burden on to ratepayers. Rates are up an average of 20% since the directive went into effect in 2021, resulting in significantly higher electricity bills for residents and businesses.

“West Virginians simply cannot afford the PSC’s costly 69% directive. It is causing electric bills to go up, interfering with electricity markets, and locking in deadly pollution while making the public pay for it,” said Jim Kotcon, Chair of the WV Chapter of Sierra Club. “The Public Service Commission’s job is to ensure utilities provide reliable services to the public at a reasonable price. With this directive, they are failing in this essential duty. That’s why we’re taking legal action to protect the public from the PSC’s unlawful orders.”

Under this directive, utilities are paying more to keep coal plants open, locked into costly long-term coal contracts while also spending hundreds of millions of dollars to try to comply with basic public health safeguards when more affordable energy solutions are available. Meanwhile, the public picks up the tab by paying unreasonable rates and still facing more pollution in the air and water that leads to health impacts on families, such as cancer and asthma.

The Sierra Club’s suit seeks to throw out this costly directive so that the PSC can instead focus on its job to keep costs reasonable for consumers while pursuing affordable, reliable sources of energy.