Investments In Old Coal, New Gas Power Plants Announced

Appalachian Power will invest close to $25 billion dollars in new and existing power generation in West Virginia.   

Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Thursday morning that $17 billion will go to the construction of three new natural gas-fired power plants across the state that will generate a total of 3 gigawatts of power.  

Morrisey also announced another $7.5 billion investment from Appalachian Power to upgrade its West Virginia coal-fired power plants through 2050.  

“West Virginia has some of the largest and deepest energy resources on the face of the earth,” he said. “We have tremendous coal reserves, spent years fighting to protect coal. We are the Saudi Arabia of gas and you’re seeing what that means. Amazing opportunity. We’re gonna have a chance to expand to nuclear and other forms of energy. West Virginia’s future is very bright.” 

Morrisey said the expansion of energy generation is going to make a positive difference for citizens by driving down energy costs and providing an estimated 2,100 jobs from these projects alone.  

“There’s a lot of buzz about West Virginia across the country. People are talking about our state from investment perspective that they’ve never talked about in the past,” he said. “Let’s keep going. Let’s keep making progress. And let’s keep making sure that families get relief.”  

The governor touted the announcements as part of his plan to expand West Virginia’s power generation capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2050 to attract rapidly growing industries like AI and advanced manufacturing. Thursday he said the state has already announced plans to add close to 12 giggawatts of generation to the state’s grid, 34% of the additional capacity needed to reach the 50 gigawatt mark.    

“I said, ‘We’re going to get to 50 gigawatts of energy by 2050.’ Can I ask you, does anyone think we’re not going to get to 50 gigawatts of energy by 2050 now? I don’t think so,” Morrisey said. “In fact, I joke with Nick (Preservati) and others that we’re now going to start calling the 50 by 50 plan the 60 by 40 plan or the 70 by 30 plan because it’s that good, okay? We have an unbelievable opportunity.” 

Morrisey also highlighted Google’s $10 million Energy Impact Program, including an initial $1 million investment through the West Virginia Office of Energy to help families in Putnam, Kanawha, Cabell, Mason, Jackson, and Lincoln counties make home repairs necessary to qualify for energy rebates, while supporting efficiency improvements for local governments and nonprofits.