With a winter storm warning in effect until early Tuesday morning and temperatures expected to fall to single digits by Thursday, state health officials offered advice and resources to help residents stay warm.
As snow continues falling and freezing across the region, thousands of Mountain State residents are left without electricity.
With a winter storm warning in effect until early Tuesday morning and temperatures expected to fall to single digits by Thursday, state health officials offered advice and resources to help residents stay warm.
While advising anyone needing immediate assistance to call 911, state health officials shared advice and resources in a Monday morning press release.
State health officials said it is safest for the more than 50,000 residents without electricity to stay inside their homes, gather in a few rooms, close off unneeded spaces, and place towels or blankets under doors and around windows to conserve heat.
Preventing body heat loss can help prevent hypothermia. The West Virginia Department of Health (DH) advised residents to layer clothing and wear a hat, warm socks and gloves to maintain body temperature during prolonged exposure to cold temperatures.
DH also said snacks like nuts, granola bars and dried fruit can help maintain body temperature and reminded residents to stay hydrated, especially if they exert energy outside in the cold temperatures.
West Virginians without power are also more susceptible to frostbite, hypothermia and dehydration and the DH advised residents to be aware of and watch for signs in their families and neighbors.
Symptoms of frostbite include numbness, tingling, or pale skin in exposed areas. Hypothermia can cause confusion, slurred speech and extreme shivering. Anyone showing any of these signs should seek medical attention immediately.
The DH encouraged West Virginians to check in on elderly or infirm neighbors who may be more vulnerable during power outages.
“Safety and preparedness are critical when facing extreme winter conditions,” said Sherri Young, cabinet secretary of the DH. “We urge everyone to take these precautions seriously and help look out for those in our community who may need assistance during this difficult time.”
For residents with access to a fireplace or woodstove, DH advised they be used cautiously and with proper ventilation to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
Health officials also advised anyone using generators or space heaters to place the appliances in a well-ventilated area and far from any flammable materials.
The DH advised residents to make sure they have enough batteries, flashlights, water, nonperishable food, medications and other emergency supplies on hand in case of an extended power outage.
According to the DH press release, residents should contact their county’s non-emergency line for updates on the availability of warming centers in their area.
Residents seeking additional resources can call West Virginia’s 2-1-1 hotline or visit the hotline’s website.
The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down a request by West Virginia and 21 other states to block the effluent limitation guidelines rule.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey lost his bid in federal court Thursday to block a new Environmental Protection Agency rule for wastewater treatment at power plants.
The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down a request by West Virginia and 21 other states to block the effluent limitation guidelines rule.
Appalachian Power parent American Electric Power also sought the emergency stay. Appalachian Power declined to comment on the decision.
That would add $42 to $60 a year for electricity customers in West Virginia and Virginia, he wrote.
If AEP chose to not make that investment, Spitznogle wrote that the John Amos and Mountaineer power plants would have to shut down in 2034, several years earlier than their anticipated retirement.
If the company chooses to retire the plants, it must decide by Dec. 31, 2025, Spitznogle said.
“Retiring these plants because of the compliance obligations of the ELG Rule, just a few years after mandating installation of costly new controls, is a bitter pill for our regulatory commissions and ratepayers to swallow,” Spitznogle wrote.
Appalachian Power is at least considering a conversion of two West Virginia power plants from coal to natural gas.
Appalachian Power is at least considering a conversion of two West Virginia power plants from coal to natural gas.
That’s what a company executive told the Virginia State Corporation Commission in recent written testimony. The John Amos and Mountaineer plants in West Virginia supply power to Appalachian Power’s Virginia customers and burn a lot of coal produced in the region.
But the region also produces a large amount of natural gas, which has become the preferred fuel for generating electricity nationwide and in the states surrounding West Virginia.
Robert Jessee, Appalachian Power’s vice president of generating assets, told the Virginia commission in August that gas was a “viable option” to help the plants meet new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emissions requirements, should they survive legal challenges.
“The company is currently exploring the compliance options available under the new EPA regulations,” Jessee said. “Converting the units to natural gas, or refueling them, is currently a viable option. It is my opinion that these plants are potential candidates for refueling, and that there are not any reasons known to me at this time that would preclude this option.”
In addition to regulatory changes, the economics of generating electricity have shifted in favor of natural gas and renewables, and away from coal.
Seth Feaster, an energy analyst for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, says such conversions are common and not difficult to do.
“These kinds of conversions have been done all over the place,” he said, “and they’re common enough that I think that it’s not a big reach for this plant, or these both of the plants, to actually get that done in a relatively short period of time, once they get approvals.”
No plant in West Virginia has been converted from coal to gas, but it has happened in nearby states, and within the territory of American Electric Power, Appalachian Power’s parent.
That includes the Big Sandy plant in eastern Kentucky and the Clinch River plant in Virginia. The West Virginia PSC approved the Clinch River conversion in 2014.
Charlotte Lane, chairman of the West Virginia PSC, said her three-member commission had not been advised by Appalachian Power that a conversion was under consideration for the Amos and Mountaineer plants.
Lane said the company would need the commission’s approval for a conversion of the plants.
“It is likely that those facilities would require extraordinary engineering and significant cost,” she said in a written statement.
Karen Wissing, an Appalachian Power spokeswoman, said the company “continues to look for the most efficient options to power progress and business growth.”
That may or may not involve converting coal plants to natural gas, she said.
“Before this can even be considered,” she said in an email, “we need further exploration and coordination with regulators to determine if it would be in the best interest of customers and the state.”
Reliability Questions
One sure opponent of any attempt to convert the plants: West Virginia’s coal industry. The state remains the nation’s second-leading coal producer besides Wyoming and its power plants are still a big customer.
The coal industry has deep historical and cultural resonance in the state, and many elected officials are committed to its survival. Gov. Jim Justice amassed his wealth in the coal business and has been one of its biggest defenders.
Chris Hamilton, president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said his organization had not been made aware of Appalachian Power’s Virginia testimony.
He said the proposal would have negative economic consequences for the state’s coal producing areas.
“Converting Amos and Mountaineer to gas would effectively kill thousands of mining jobs throughout West Virginia along with hundreds of rail and river transportation and coal handling jobs,” Hamilton said in an email. “The net effect would also be to fuel these two coal facilities with less reliable energy from possible out of state sources and create added retrofit costs to be shouldered by consumers.”
The industry and its allies have made a steady pitch for coal’s reliability: If you always have a supply ready on site, the plants can run when they’re needed.
Gas, on the other hand, is supplied by pipeline and could be vulnerable to disruptions.
Cutting Emissions
Yet thanks to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, West Virginia has an abundant supply. It is the nation’s fourth-leading producer, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“West Virginia is in a pretty enviable position here,” said Rob Jennings, vice president of natural gas markets for the American Petroleum Institute. “And so you’ve got the gas you need right there.”
Helping meet emissions requirements works in favor of gas, Jennings said.
“When you switch from coal to natural gas in a power plant, you reduce your emissions by about 60 percent – between 50 and 60 percent, depending on the efficiency of the coal plant and the efficiency of the new gas plant,” he said. “So that’s really the biggest benefit.”
In addition to cutting carbon emissions, gas plants produce no sulfur dioxide, which can form acid rain and must be removed with devices called scrubbers. It emits less nitrogen oxide, which forms smog. And it avoids the disposal costs of coal ash, which can contaminate groundwater if not handled properly.
Gas, though, still emits carbon dioxide. The production and transportation of gas emits methane, an even more powerful planet-warming gas than CO2.
Gas as a substitute for coal generates some opposition where coal has a lot of support, Jennings said.
“But I think maybe the larger place where you tend to see resistance to this is from the environmental side,” he said.
Rising Costs
If EPA’s rules prevail, existing coal and new natural gas plants will have to capture 90 percent of their CO2 emissions within a decade, or shut down.
Environmental groups would prefer to see Appalachian Power’s coal plants retired and replaced with renewables like wind and solar, and battery storage.
Sooner or later, the company will have to make a decision on the future of its West Virginia coal fleet.
Appalachian Power’s West Virginia coal plants, which include Amos, Mountaineer and the Mitchell plant, half owned by Kentucky Power and Wheeling Power, have operated less than half the time in recent months and have lost money when they did run.
Appalachian Power executives testified to the West Virginia PSC over the summer that the plants had too much coal on site, so it was burned to manage the supply, even when it was not economically justified.
The plants are aging, and that increases the cost of operating and maintaining them. Mountaineer began operating in 1980 and Amos and Mitchell in the early 1970s.
Feaster says the plants might be at a tipping point, where it becomes more attractive to run them on gas instead of a fuel long associated with the state.
“You may want to support the coal industry in the state, but if it’s going to raise costs for ratepayers,” he said, “then it starts to become an increasingly challenging proposition to come up with the money that supports keeping it a coal plant.”
The 2,900-megawatt John E. Amos power plant is the largest in the state.
Ultimately, the PSC found problems with the Appalachian Power’s August filing and dismissed it because it was missing information.
Other, smaller increases the PSC approved took effect this month.
Karen Wissing, a spokeswoman, said Appalachian Power is looking at the options presented in the order.
“We appreciate the opportunity to revisit the filing to see if there are ways to reduce the impact on our customers from the millions of dollars invested in the state to improve the plants, poles and wires that deliver the energy and power West Virginia’s economy,” she said.
Emmett Pepper, policy director for Energy Efficient West Virginia, said his group would be watching closely at what the company proposes. Among other things, the group objected to a potential reduction in credit rooftop solar customers receive for the power they send to the grid.
“We also hope that AEP reconsiders some of its proposals before it files another case like this. Increasing rates on families, small businesses, churches, and schools by 15-25% can really harm our communities,” Pepper said, referring to Appalachian Power parent company American Electric Power.
If AEP does not comply with the wastewater treatment rule, it would have to shut down the John Amos and Mountaineer power plants in 2034.
A utility executive says new federal rules could force expensive upgrades to West Virginia’s coal plants or shut them down.
West Virginia is among 22 states seeking to block U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules in the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. So is Appalachian Power parent American Electric Power.
Last month, Gary Spitznogle, AEP’s vice president of environmental services, told the court that compliance with the wastewater treatment, or Effluent Limitation Guidelines rule could cost $900 million over a decade.
That would cost electricity customers in West Virginia and Virginia $42 to $60 a year, he said.
If AEP does not comply with the rule, it would have to shut down the John Amos and Mountaineer power plants in 2034.
If the company chooses to retire the plants, it must decide by Dec. 31, 2025, Spitznogle said.
Ratepayers in both states have already paid hundreds of millions of dollars for upgrades to the two plants.
“Retiring these plants because of the compliance obligations of the ELG Rule, just a few years after mandating installation of costly new controls, is a bitter pill for our regulatory commissions and ratepayers to swallow,” Spitznogle wrote.
Meanwhile, Appalachian Power has asked the PSC for a 17 percent increase in base rates, equivalent to more than $28 a month for the average residential electricity customer.
Federal data show that wind and solar are set to overtake coal in U.S. electricity production this year. Natural gas displaced coal as the nation’s top fuel in 2016.
The written testimony of Jason Stegall, director of regulatory services for Appalachian Power parent American Electric Power, filed Monday to the West Virginia Public Service Commission, helps explain why the company may have operated the plants in recent months when it was not economically justifiable.
An Appalachian Power witness said worker safety drove the company’s decision to operate its coal plants when they couldn’t make money.
The written testimony of Jason Stegall, director of regulatory services for Appalachian Power parent American Electric Power, filed Monday to the West Virginia Public Service Commission, helps explain why the company may have operated the plants in recent months when it was not economically justifiable.
The analyst, Chelsea Hotaling, testified that Appalachian Power ran the plants when they couldn’t economically compete to reduce excess coal inventories on site.
In testimony filed Monday, Stegall said having too much coal on site threatened worker safety but offered no further details.
However, he did say that the company considers factors other than economics in deciding when to run the coal plants.
Karen Wissing, a spokeswoman for Appalachian Power, said each plant has a limit on space for storing coal as well as the slope and height of the coal pile. Maintaining those limits protects the safety of workers who load and unload coal for the plants, she said.
If the PSC approves that request, the average residential electricity customer could see a monthly bill increase of more than $28.
It may be months before that case comes before the commission. Meanwhile, the PSC will hold a hearing on Aug. 12 to consider a request by Appalachian Power to cover its fuel costs.
Hotaling and Stegall have filed written testimony in that case. If approved, it would add about $2 a month for the average electricity user.
The commission last month approved Appalachian Power’s request for additional revenue to pay for environmental compliance upgrades at its three coal plants: Amos, Mountaineer and Mitchell.
The increase of $2.71 will take effect on Sept. 1. Also next month, Appalachian Power customers will begin paying an additional $2.50 a month for 10 years for fuel costs the company incurred in 2021 and 2022, when the price of coal spiked.
The PSC approved that increase in January, concluding a long and contentious case in which Appalachian Power sought to recover nearly $550 million in fuel costs from West Virginia customers. The PSC ultimately allowed the company to recover $331 million of those costs.
