CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Although very few delegates spoke against passage of a bill that would repeal the state’s Alternative and Renewable Energy Act, debate and discussion went on for more than an hour before the House of Delegates voted 95-4 to undo a law many say was not effective in the first place.
A similar Senate version of the bill passed unanimously earlier this week. Language of both bills will be integrated into one final version that could be on the governor’s desk as early as today.
The Alternative and Renewable Energy Act of 2009 set benchmarks for utility companies to use alternative and renewable fuels — up to 25 percent of the energy they produced by 2025. The bill went into effect Jan. 1.
Utility companies were already meeting the 2015 standards, according to FirstEnergy’s Sammy Gray, who testified at both Senate and House energy committees last week. Gray said his company would be fine with or without the standards, but did prefer a free market approach.
According to a Public Service Commission report the Energy Act had little effect on coal jobs.
“The coal industry and the future of coal-fired generation in the state will be impacted by factors that are unrelated to the Portfolio Act including changes in natural gas pricing and the rules proposed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency in June 2014,” the report said.
Also, the report says the act does not mandate the use of renewables, but instead provides the option for utilities to use renewables as an energy source.
“The Portfolio Act enables West Virginia to utilize our diverse energy resource base,” the report said.
During the debate, delegates who work as coal miners spoke in favor of repeal.
“I came here to fight for repealing legislation just like this,” said Josh Nelson, R-Boone. Nelson said if repealing the act puts only one coal miner back to work, then it is worth the effort.
Likewise, Randy Smith, R-Preston, said he ran for office because he took offense to the bill when it passed in 2009.
“What did this bill say to us coal miners? Did it say, ‘we’ve got your back?’” he asked. “It’s a slap in the face of coal miners…
