American Electric Power says it will determine its next steps on three power plants after hearing from each state with regulatory authority.
West Virginia’s Public Service Commission gave a go-ahead this week for improvements that could extend the lives of three coal-fired power plants — John Amos, Mountaineer and Mitchell.
The certificate granted by the PSC could enable those plants to upgrade and remain operable until 2040.
But what happens in the end still also depends on decisions by regulators in Kentucky and Virginia because of stakes those states have in the West Virginia-based plants.
“The West Virginia order provides one more of the three state orders necessary to determine our path forward,” stated AEP spokesman Phil Moye.
“Through this order, the Public Service Commission of West Virginia has recognized the role that the Amos, Mountaineer and Mitchell plants play in maintaining reliable, affordable service to our customers as we transition to more renewables and balance out our energy resources in the coming years.”
Kentucky’s Public Service Commission last month rejected Kentucky Power’s request to recover costs for improvements at the Mitchell plant. Kentucky Power and Wheeling Power each own 50 percent interest in Mitchell, which is in Marshall County.
Instead, Kentucky’s commission approved a plan that would include only enough environmental upgrades to keep the plant federally compliant and operating through 2028. The Kentucky order forbid any construction contrary to its order.
Virginia regulators have say-so in what would happen with John Amos in Putnam County and Mountaineer in Mason County because they serve customers in those states. Virginia’s Corporation Commission hasn’t yet announced a decision.
“We are awaiting a ruling from the Virginia State Corporation Commission on our request to make environmental improvements at the Amos and Mountaineer plants and will be weighing the collective decisions from Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia and working with regulators as we determine our next steps,” Moye said.
West Virginia commissioners made reference to this multistate issue but concluded they had to make their decision based on the evidence in front of them. “The decisions in this order are based on and supported by the record before us,” the West Virginia commissioners wrote.
The commissioners wrote, “If there are changes in ownership or cost allocations that are required by decision in other States, the Companies should bring such changes to the attention of the Commission in an appropriate future case.”
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, whose office participated in the case, praised the West Virginia commission’s decision. But Morrisey reserved criticism for the other states involved.
“West Virginia needs to preserve our Mitchell, Amos, and Mountaineer power plants,” Morrisey stated.
“This is not the end of this fight by any means, as our neighboring States continued to threaten our ability to save these plants. More work lies ahead, but this is a great first step.”
Emmett Pepper, policy director of Energy Efficient West Virginia, alluded to the complicated situation involving three state regulatory authorities.
“It is unclear where things stand now because, even though this commission has approved the ELG upgrades for Mitchell, it does not have the authority to do that on its own under the current ownership structure, where Wheeling Power Company and Kentucky Power Company each own an undivided 50 percent share of the plant,” Pepper said.