West Virginia lawmakers approve 69% capacity rule for coal-fired power plants

Lawmakers agreed with a Public Service Commission rule on Tuesday that would keep a requirement for electrical generation capacity on coal-fired plants as a goal, rather than a mandate. 

The legislative Rule Making Review Committee, composed of six state senators and six delegates, approved a set of regulations for the state’s power plants, which were tucked away in the 2025 data center bill that contributed to the loss of a few seats in last week’s election. 

The regulations govern how much power plants generate and how electricity is bought off the energy market. State regulators will also be monitoring how plants perform, measuring for electrical output and cost. 

One sticking point — which caused environmentalists and consumer advocates to side with the power companies against King Coal — required power plants be maintained to pump out 69% of total output at all times. 

The Public Service Commission interpreted the law to be aspirational and only required plants be maintained to meet that capacity except when “if doing so will cause an increase in the charges for electric energy.”

In 2025, no plant in the state ran at 69% of their capacity, according to data from Emmett Pepper, policy director of Energy Efficient West Virginia. 

At Tuesday’s meeting, state Sen. Brian Helton, R-Fayette, called the rule “ratepayer protection.” 

“It says if 69% is best for the rate payer, you need to do that. If it’s not, you don’t have to,” Helton said. 

While coal is the most expensive fuel used in the market, it can still be cheaper than buying off the energy grid, according to Larry Ellis, an advisor for the PSC. 

Ellis told the committee that on average, the state’s coal-fired plants cost about $35 per megawatt hour, as opposed to $70 per megawatt hour seen recently on the energy market. 

By encouraging the plants to generate more, Ellis told lawmakers they can either use it to power homes and businesses in the state or make a profit on the energy market. 

“Just to be clear, when we generate at a lesser cost and sell out to the market at a higher cost, that goes to lower people’s utility bills?” Helton asked Ellis. 

“Absolutely,” Ellis said. 

Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, said she was concerned that getting plants up to capacity could cost residents, who ultimately foot the bill for the maintenance on the plants. 

That could affect another metric the PSC will be overseeing — making sure the plants are producing electricity at the cheapest price possible.  

“I know our coal fleet is — we put a lot of money into it and it’s operating well, but it’s not very young,” Young said. 

Ellis said issues of age of plants and other factors would be weighed against the cost by the PSC. 

“We could say the plant is in the last year of its life, and we all agree to that,” Ellis said. “And you can bring it up to snuff to meet your capacity requirement for $100 million. We would say no.” 

The rules will be reviewed for passage by the entire Legislature in January.