Federal Court Won’t Block EPA Power Plant Rule

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey lost his bid in federal court Thursday to block a new Environmental Protection Agency rule for wastewater treatment at power plants.

The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down a request by West Virginia and 21 other states to block the effluent limitation guidelines rule.

Appalachian Power parent American Electric Power also sought the emergency stay. Appalachian Power declined to comment on the decision.

Over the summer, Gary Spitznogle, AEP’s vice president of environmental services, told the court in a brief that compliance with the rule would cost the company $900 million over a decade.

That would add $42 to $60 a year for electricity customers in West Virginia and Virginia, he wrote.

If AEP chose to not make that investment, Spitznogle wrote that the John Amos and Mountaineer power plants would have to shut down in 2034, several years earlier than their anticipated retirement.

If the company chooses to retire the plants, it must decide by Dec. 31, 2025, Spitznogle said.

Ratepayers in both states have already paid hundreds of millions of dollars for upgrades to the two plants.

“Retiring these plants because of the compliance obligations of the ELG Rule, just a few years after mandating installation of costly new controls, is a bitter pill for our regulatory commissions and ratepayers to swallow,” Spitznogle wrote.