Gov. Jim Justice has appointed an energy attorney to lead the state’s Office of Energy.
Justice tapped Nick Preservati, of the Charleston law firm Spilman, Thomas and Battle, as its director.
Preservati is currently vice chair of the state Public Energy Authority and has represented coal, oil and gas and utility companies in legal matters.
He said his office’s mission was to promote the state’s energy resources, including fossil fuels.
“We’ve been tasked, the Office of Energy’s been tasked, by the administration to make sure and ensure that West Virginia becomes and remains not only a national but a global energy power,” he said Wednesday.
Preservati’s term on the Public Energy Authority expires next year on June 30. It wasn’t immediately clear if he would continue to serve on it after his latest appointment.