Sierra Club Challenges PSC Directive In Campaign To Curb Coal

On Tuesday, the Sierra Club took the West Virginia Public Service Commission to court.

It challenged the commission’s 2021 directive for Appalachian Power to operate its three coal plants in the state at a capacity factor of 69 percent, the majority of the time.

Few coal plants across the country achieve that, and even West Virginia’s don’t come close.

The Sierra Club has been involved in a nationwide campaign to curb the use of coal to produce electricity. Since its “Beyond Coal” campaign began, 345 plants nationwide have closed or committed to close. The group wants the remaining 145 to shut down, and the economics are working in favor of it.

Jim Kotcon, chairman of the Sierra Club’s West Virginia chapter, says the PSC’s directive is bad for electricity customers. It costs more to burn coal for electricity than other resources, and the state’s residents are paying the price.

“Many of these plants are over 40 years old,” Kotcon said. “It is time for them to retire. It certainly does not make good sense to invest hundreds of millions or billions of dollars trying to keep these plants on life support, simply so that they keep burning coal. A realistic assessment of the costs would suggest that there are better ways to provide our electricity.” 

None of Appalachian Power’s coal plants in West Virginia has achieved a 69 percent capacity factor in years. One plant, Mitchell, operated only 24 percent of the time last year, data show.

As little as they operate, an energy analyst told the PSC recently that all three plants lose tens of millions of dollars. An Appalachian Power official told the PSC that the company runs the plants when they can’t make money because they have too much coal on site, posing a safety risk to plant workers.

Meanwhile, Appalachian Power has asked the PSC for a 17 percent rate increase, or about $28 a month for the average residential user.

Kotcon says there are less expensive options that protect public health and the environment.

“It is much more cost effective to switch to renewable sources,” he said. “We avoid the air pollution, we avoid the greenhouse gases, we avoid the water pollution and the land disturbance that would occur.” 

The Sierra Club has asked a federal judge in Charleston to block the directive and overturn it.