Senator Stresses Power Plant Capacity Is A Goal, Not A Mandate

The Public Service Commission of West Virginia is currently working on rules for the energy used to supply data centers. State Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, said he wants to make sure ratepayers are protected.  

House Bill 2014, passed in 2025, established how data centers can be developed and powered. During debate over the bill, some legislators wanted to require coal-fired power plants to run at 69% capacity whether that was the cheapest energy source or not.  

That language was later changed to “strive to achieve 69%” capacity as long as it didn’t increase costs, according to Takubo. The senator recently published an editorial saying he wants to ensure ratepayers are protected and not asked to pay higher electric bills.  

“In a state where so many people are living paycheck to paycheck, the last thing we need to be doing, as a government, is increasing their electric bills and worsening their affordability,” Takubo said.  

He chose to write the editorial because he wanted to make sure the PSC was following the letter of the law.  

“There was some concern that the PSC was going to misinterpret some of the language in House Bill 2014,” he said. “I just want to make it very clear that that was not the intent of the bill. If you read the wording, it made it very clear.” 

The problem with coal-fired power plants is that coal is often not the cheapest source of energy. Mandating plants to run two-thirds of the time would drive up costs to consumers, especially since many coal plants are aging. There are millions of dollars of deferred maintenance that would have to be passed on to consumers for the plants to even get close to that capacity. 

“The fact of the matter is, coal is expensive. It’s one of the most expensive power generation sources that are out there right now,” Takubo said. “There’s been a lot of deferred maintenance that hasn’t happened because I believe many, even in the coal industry, feel that there’s going to be less and less utility for a coal fire.” 

When it comes to powering data centers, Takubo said rate payers should see a decrease in their energy costs because of new power users coming on board. 

The legislature will have to approve any rules the PSC is currently drafting during the next legislative session.