CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The president of West Virginia Coal Association believes the announced plan FirstEnergy plan to add natural gas to two power plants is not a good value for taxpayers or residents of Harrison and Monongalia counties.
Chris Hamilton said he hopes the electric utility will change its plans during the five-year implementation schedule. The plants have employed hundreds of people and earned billions of dollars for these communities over their life span.
“We’re really surprised and shocked at this, and it will be a real hardship for that area up there,” Hamilton said on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.” “So, we really hope they’ll reconsider this major policy decision.”
The decision, which FirstEnergy announced to its shareholders late last month, reverses the plan to retire the Fort Martin and Harrison power stations over the next 15 years.
Hamilton said for at least 12 years, through the Obama and Biden administrations, every tool was used to suppress the coal industry. But, he said the entry of Donald Trump as president and Patrick Morrisey as governor could be a sign the onslaught against coal will come to an end.
“There’s been downward pressure on these plants and the plant operators over the last decade and a half to transition away from coal,” Hamilton said. “But all that has changed under the current federal administration and state policymakers.”
Hamilton said there is money in the Inflation Reduction Act specifically for the upgrade and modernization of coal-fired power plants. Then U.S. Senator Joe Manchin fought for the money and continued unsuccessfully during the Biden administration to get the money released.
“There needs to be a concerted effort by our state policymakers, governor, and congressional representatives to draw down on that money and work with the Trump administration,” Hamilton said.
Sierra Club West Virginia Chair Jim Kotcon supports shutting down the coal-fired plants but stops short of giving his full support. Natural gas is still a fossil fuel that creates greenhouse gases that continue to harm the environment, Kotcon said.
“The Sierra Club is certainly interested in closing as many of these dangerous, polluting dinosaurs as possible,” Kotcon said on “Talk of the Town” last week. “The key is how can we do that and maintain electrical reliability because I want my lights to stay on.”
Hamilton said over the last decade or so, the move to renewable energy has shown it cannot meet the base-load power demands. Economic growth and increased demand for electricity have been too much for renewables to handle, and that doesn’t include the needs in the future of data centers or when artificial intelligence becomes more widely used.
“The lack of base-load power within the grid system- I think its been a failed social experiment,” Hamilton said. “I think every energy expert across the land would attest to that.”
The project over five years will cost $4 to $6 billion and add three to four gigawatts of power generation capacity. Hamilton said ratepayers should be concerned with the investment when the existing power generation facilities are currently paid for and they have years of operation in the future with proper maintenance.
“Mon Power at this point in time proposes billions and billions of dollars in capital investments that they are expecting the ratepayers to pick up the cost for,” Hamilton said.
FirstEnergy declined further comment on the plan at this time.