Coal is deeply ingrained in West Virginia’s economy, history, and culture. However, the cost of coal-generated electricity continues to rise, prompting residents to abandon the state’s once-preferred fuel.
Mary West, an Army veteran, lives in Beckley, in southern West Virginia’s coalfield. Around 1980, she worked in the mines for Ranger Fuel and Pittston Coal in Raleigh County.
West described it as hard and dangerous work. An injury ended her brief mining career.
“They released me to go back to work,” she told me. “And I told them I was not going to go back, because the Lord hid it underground for a reason and didn’t intend for my crazy butt to keep going down there finding it.”
When you look at her red-brick house, you can’t tell she used to work in coal. Its roof is covered in solar panels, which power her home. Most months, she doesn’t pay for electricity.
“Well, you know, God’s sun is out every day,” West was saying. “If there is no sunlight, we still can get generation through the cloud.”
Gary Bolen, a disabled Navy veteran living on a fixed income, strives to use power sparingly.
“I keep my thermostat set at 65 [degrees] so I don’t have a power bill that high,” he told me.
Bolen switched away from coal-generated electricity to save money.
“I had to transfer it over to gas because the electric heat was running way too high,” he told me. “At one time, I had a $500 bill.”
‘Living to pay bills’
Coal was once the dominant fuel for electricity generation across the country, but natural gas surpassed it nearly a decade ago.
Appalachian Power, a utility that serves roughly half of West Virginia, still generates 90% of its electricity from coal.
Its rates have risen faster than inflation, and the company is looking for another boost.
Tom Moseley, a retired postal worker, expressed concern that it would exacerbate an already difficult situation.
“Most families in Raleigh County are living to pay bills,” according to him. “They cannot go out and enjoy life. They cannot go to the movies and spend money.
Every dollar they earn is used to pay their bills. And now we have companies requesting an increase.
President Donald Trump won West Virginia by large margins in the previous three presidential elections on promises to increase fossil fuel production, including coal. However, coal’s promised resurgence has not yet occurred.
With Trump back in the White House and industry-friendly appointees at agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, coal supporters are once again predicting a comeback.
Earlier this week, Trump took to social media to announce that his administration would begin producing energy from “beautiful, clean coal.”
“Outstanding news!” Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey responded to Trump on X, which was previously known as Twitter.
“Couldn’t agree more!” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia and chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which vets EPA nominees, tweeted.
On Thursday, 23 state attorneys general, including West Virginia’s J.B. McCuskey, wrote to Energy Secretary Doug Burgum in support of the Trump administration’s plan to increase coal production.
Chris Hamilton is the President of the West Virginia Coal Association. He stated that the state is mining roughly half the amount of coal it did in 2009, with half the workforce, but this could change.
“We think, under this new political leadership and with the industries and government working hand-in-hand, we can get back to that 165 million tons of coal,” Hamilton informed the audience.
Honey May is the Sierra Club’s West Virginia chapter director, and the organization has successfully advocated for the retirement of coal plants. She stated that coal’s days are over, regardless of what its supporters say.
“It’s been over a decade since the last coal plant was put into operation in the United States,” she informed us. “And that’s something I don’t see happening again.”
In a February presentation to West Virginia lawmakers, executives from Appalachian Power’s parent company, American Electric Power, explained why the company does not burn more coal or build new coal plants.
Del. Henry Dillon, a Republican from Wayne County, cited the growth of data centers, Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency, and the expected rollback of EPA rules.
“Why is AEP not prioritizing investment in new coal fired generation?” Dillon asked.
Appalachian Power’s vice president of regulatory and finance, John Scalzo, stated that coal would not be the most cost-effective option.
“The safest investment would be … we’ll be looking at natural gas,” Scalzo explained.
‘In the downward trend’
Randall Short is the director of regulatory services at AEP. While testifying to a different group of state legislators in February, he stated that the company’s three coal plants in West Virginia frequently cannot compete with lower-cost gas plants.
“The determination of how much those plants run is going to be the variable price of fuel, and that’s right now being driven mostly by natural gas,” Short told reporters. “It’s very hard to get a coal contract that can beat that price.”
Short stated that the three plants operate 40% of the time, which is comparable to the average of all coal plants in PJM, the 13-state transmission territory that includes West Virginia.
Appalachian Power’s rate proposal could raise the average electricity customer’s bill by $23.74, or approximately 14%. It would be another increase, as many of the company’s customers have seen in recent years.
Hundreds of residents have filed comments with state regulators opposing the rate increase. Several school boards, including Raleigh County’s, have also done so.
Another is Marshall County, which is home to AEP-operated Wheeling Power’s Mitchell coal plant.
Karen Wissing, a spokeswoman, stated in an email that the company has proposed an alternative to the West Virginia Public Service Commission that would increase monthly bills by $6.72.
To achieve this, the company would issue bonds that would be repaid over a 20-year period.
“We ask that any customer struggling with higher bills reach out to us,” she told me. “We are available 24/7 to answer questions or share information about the many assistance programs available to our West Virginia neighbors.”
The Public Service Commission will review Appalachian Power’s rate case this summer.
Coal generates only 15% of the nation’s electricity. Last year, solar and wind outproduced coal for the first time, accounting for 17% of total electricity generation in the country. It is only expected to increase.
The CEO of First Energy, whose Mon Power subsidiary supplies electricity to the rest of West Virginia, told investors in February that gas plants would replace the company’s two coal plants in the state in the coming years.
Mon Power is currently building several solar sites in West Virginia, with a few already completed.
May finds it difficult to see a way forward for coal’s resurgence as costs rise and renewable resources replace it.
“There are cheaper, cleaner, faster, more nimble alternatives on the market,” Mrs. May said. “And that’s what’s pushing coal in the downward trend.”
