Commerce Secretary Thrasher Resigns at Gov. Justice's Request

State commerce department Sec. Woody Thrasher has resigned following reports of a slow-moving recovery program aimed to help victims of the June 2016 flood.

 

Thrasher resigned Thursday after Gov. Jim Justice asked for his resignation, according to a news release from the governor’s office.   

Justice expressed his appreciation for Thrasher’s service to the state.

 

Justice said he considers Thrasher “a friend” who has done a solid job in the area of economic development. But Justice said Thrasher reported that recent media attention to the RISE West Virginia flood recovery program had distracted from the duties of his office.

 

Several reports indicated that the state had spent only $1.1 million of $150 million allocated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the RISE program. The West Virginia Department of Commerce holds the legal authority over the program.

 

Following those reports, Justice announced a realignment of the program, with oversight handed over to Gen. James Hoyer of the West Virginia National Guard.

 

“I hope this allows us to turn our attention to the full recovery of all of the victims of the 2016 flood,” Justice said of Thrasher’s resignation Thursday.

 

“I accepted this appointment because of my love for the state, and because of Governor Justice’s vision that West Virginia and its citizens should not settle for 50th,” Thrasher said in the news release issued by Justice.

 

“I want the Governor and this state to be successful, and I welcome the opportunity to help any way I can in the future.”

 

Commerce Secretary 'Hopeful' First China Energy Project is Near

West Virginia Commerce Secretary Woody Thrasher said he is hopeful the first project associated with the China Energy deal will be announced soon.

Speaking to a crowd at the Marcellus and Manufacturing Development Conference in Morgantown Tuesday, Thrasher said interest is running high. Chinese delegations ranging in size from nine to 29 people have visited the state 15 times, with another visit scheduled next week.

“So, certainly when you look at the level of activity that they’re investing into this, I think it’s hugely substantial and I’m very hopeful it’s going to pay significant rewards,” said Thrasher. “I’m very hopeful in the very near future we’re going to be announcing that first project.”

The nearly-$84 billion deal between West Virginia and China’s largest energy company, China Energy, was announced last November. Since then, few details have emerged since Thrasher and China Energy President Ling Wen signed a memorandum of understanding in Beijing as part of the US-China trade mission during President Donald Trump’s November 2017 visit.

China’s largest energy company committed to investing billions in the state’s natural gas industry over the next 20 years. One goal is to make the Ohio Valley region the next petrochemical manufacturing hub in the U.S.

Another speaker at the event was Brian Anderson, director of West Virginia University’s Energy Institute. He said it’s an exciting time to be in Appalachia because the region’s rich shale gas development is “creating the world’s largest renewal in the petrochemical boom.”

“So now here we are in the 21st century with a truly unique opportunity, to not grab what the U.S. Gulf Coast has and bring is up here, but to create the second petrochemical hub here for the United States,” he said.

Proponents of the China Energy investment tout the economic benefits, but environmental groups have expressed concern the creation of a storage hub for natural gas liquids and petrochemical processing plants could contaminate air and water resources.

On their website, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition states: “This project would lead to increased petrochemical industrialization of Ohio River Valley. The experience of people in Cancer Alley of the Gulf Coast region informs us that the grave health risks outweigh the economic benefits.”

Details Scant About $84 Billion China Energy Investment Deal in West Virginia

Details remain scant about a deal announced with China Energy to invest nearly $84 billion in the natural gas and petrochemical industries in West Virginia during the next 20 years. The deal, which makes up roughly a third of China Energy’s total proposed investments across the country, came during President Donald Trump’s visit last week to Beijing.

Governor Jim Justice and state commerce secretary Woody Thrasher held a press conference Monday to outline how the deal came about, but didn’t provide specifics about the memorandum of understanding, or MOU, between Chinese industry leaders and West Virginia government officials.

Thrasher revealed last week that early projects would include two natural gas-fired power plants, likely in Harrison and Brooke counties, with construction potentially starting in the next six to eight months. He and officials from the Shenhua Group, who are part of the state-owned China Energy company, have agreed at this point to not release additional projects or the MOU, which is understood to not be legally binding.

 

“I don’t want to get into the specifics of the projects,” said Thrasher. “There’s a whole wide series of projects. Can I guarantee you that they’re going to spend 83 billion dollars in 20 years? No. But what I can guarantee you is: the governor has directed me to do everything within my power to facilitate these projects going forward.”

WVU Energy Institute director Dr. Brian Anderson added that potential projects would run the entire spectrum of natural gas and petrochemical products and facilities. He did mention interest in building an underground storage hub for natural gas liquids, which he says would link to production facilities through pipelines.

“When the the value chain of the petrochemical industry from the natural gas liquids would start with the necessary, fundamental framework infrastructure that would support that petrochemical sector,” said Anderson. “And so one thing that Texas does have that West Virginia doesn’t is a storage and trading hub for these natural gas liquids. It creates a spot market for the efficient trading and pricing of those natural gas liquids.”

Secretary Thrasher noted that China Energy’s interest in West Virginia had waned at various points in the negotiation process, with investors considering locations in Texas or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

Both Justice and Thrasher say that the state has offered nothing in exchange for the investment or been asked to provide tax breaks, changes in policy or any other incentives at this point.

“President Trump is on their you-know-what over there and everything. And he’s demanding that we get our trade to bounce back and balance. They asked for nothing,” said Justice. “Now, would we surely afford them the incentives that we afford to others within our state? Absolutely, we would. But at the same time, thus far, I can tell you they’ve asked for nothing.”

With some details of the agreement unclear to the public and nothing legally binding as of yet, Justice urged a sense of cautious optimism moving forward.

“We want to be realistic,” said Justice. “We want to absolutely believe that it’s happening. But, at the same time, we don’t want to just drop all of our guards and think, ‘Yeah, yeah, it’s done, done.’”

Thrasher said there is a schedule moving forward to solidify potential projects and that he expects to see construction beginning by this time next year.

 

Both he and Justice attribute the potential investment to Justice’s relationship with President Trump and Trump’s interest in reviving West Virginia’s economy.

 

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