CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry will be in the Mountain State Thursday to tour the Longview Power Plant in Maidsville and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) near Morgantown.
Perry will be accompanied by U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and U.S. Representative David McKinley, who invited him to West Virginia to examine their energy facilities.
Manchin, who spoke Wednesday on MetroNews Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval, said he is looking forward to the upcoming visit
“We are going to bring him in and show him NETL and Longview,” he said. “We will show him a clean power plant and what it can do and why it works so well with the energy mix that we need. He is going to see what West Virginia does, we have coal, natural gas, solar, hydro, it is not all about coal, we will show him the mix of energy we have.”
Manchin said the current administration has encouraged an all in energy policy, but a balance is necessary.
“We have got to be careful to find that balance between the environment and economy, you can’t throw caution to the wind with either one,” Manchin said. “The previous administration under Obama was basically trying to do energy without fossil fuel, you just can’t do it.”
Manchin said the main goal of the visit is to highlight West Virginia’s role to the nation.
“He needs to see what we do, and how dependent the country is on what West Virginia does,” Manchin said. “If you want to address the energy concerns and the climate of the world, then you better come to the realization that people are going to use what they have. Shouldn’t they at least use the technology we have already perfected while they try to find the new technology? These are the things that WVU, Marshall, and NETL can do, everyone can work together.”
The tour is set to begin 9 a.m. Thursday at the Longview facility.