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The Sierra Club filed its 36-page complaint this week in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
It seeks to overturn a 2021 directive by the PSC for Appalachian Power to operate its coal plants at a 69 percent capacity factor.
The Sierra Club says the commission overstepped its authority. The complaint says the directive violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, and only the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has the authority to regulate how much power plants run.
The suit was filed on behalf of two Kanawha County residents who are Appalachian Power customers, as well as the Sierra Club itself, which has offices in West Virginia.
The suit argues that the PSC directive hurts electricity customers, who absorb the cost of the plants’ operations and any losses they incur.
The coal plants have not operated anywhere near the 69 percent capacity factor but still have lost money in recent months.
An energy analyst told the PSC last month that the John Amos, Mountaineer and Mitchell plants lost a combined $87 million from early 2023 to early 2024.
Appalachian Power told the PSC that it ran the plants outside of favorable economic conditions to manage an oversupply of coal to protect worker safety.
According to an analysis of power plant data by the Ohio River Valley Institute, the three plants operated well below 69 percent last year.
Mountaineer operated 44 percent of the time, followed by Amos at 33 percent. Mitchell ranked last at 24 percent. The 10-year average capacity factor for coal plants in PJM, the regional grid operator that includes West Virginia and 12 other states, is 42 percent, the complaint states.
Appalachian Power has asked the PSC to raise base rates by 17 percent, or about $28 a month for the average residential electricity user.
The company has taken legal action against the PSC over its January decision to deny the recovery of $231 million in fuel costs from electricity customers. Oral arguments are set for Sept. 4 at the West Virginia Supreme Court.
Karen Wissing, an Appalachian Power spokeswoman, said the company doesn’t plan to intervene in the Sierra Club’s lawsuit.
The West Virginia PSC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
