CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Public Service Commission Chairman Charlotte Lane says she has no plans to vote in favor of closing any coal-fired power plants in West Virginia.
And Lane told state lawmakers Monday, no one is currently asking the PSC to do so.
Lane was before lawmakers at an interim committee meeting to talk about the progress of the new microgrids law but it was her comments on coal-fired plants that got the attention of delegates Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, and Kayla Young, D-Kanawha.
“If I understood you correctly, I believe you just testified that you would not approve shutting down a coal plant in West Virginia?” Hansen asked.
“That’s right,” Lane answered.
She elaborated.
“As I have said, the implications and the economic affect overall of those plants on the state’s economy would not lead me to believe it would be in the best interest of West Virginia to shut those plants down,” Lane said.
Del. Young followed up later in the meeting.
“I just want to make sure that I heard what you said correctly which is that the PSC is not going to approve any closure of any coal-fired power plant?”
“Yes, that’s what I said,” Lane answered.
Lane said there’s panic in some states where they don’t have enough power generation. She said she doesn’t want West Virginia to get close to that.
“You can’t rely upon renewables because it’s not base load and you can’t rely on solar because the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t run—so we have rely on base load and that means coal and hopefully we’re going to have natural gas generation built in this state,” Lane said.
She told lawmakers she is encouraged with Mon Power’s announced plans to build a gas-fired power plant in West Virginia. Lane said she’s also hopeful nuclear will one day be a viable option here. But she said until then, the state needs to do what it can to make the necessary improvements to keep the coal plants running to 2050 or beyond.
“There’s no reason why those plants, if we provide sufficient upgrades, cannot stay working longer,” Lane said.
Del. Young later asked Lane if the PSC made its decisions in the best interests of the utilities or the ratepayers?
Young said the PSC weighs all factors.
“The statute requires that all of our decisions balance the interests of the ratepayers, the utilities and the state’s economy as a whole and I challenge anybody to say we are not doing that,” Lane said.
She added nobody has filed to close the plants
“Probably the only people who actually would be able to file something like this is the utilities and they see the advantage of keeping base load generation,” Lane said. “Coal will have to be replaced by something else and hopefully that can be nuclear, it can be natural gas, but until then we have to keep those coal-fired plants open to keep the lights on.”