A lot has happened in a relatively short period of time since President Biden was sworn into office last month.
The Keystone XL pipeline was stopped by Presidential Executive Order, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals struck down President Trump’s Affordable Clean Energy Plan and the country witnessed the collapse of Texas’s power system, comprised of a high percentage of wind, solar and natural gas, when extreme weather blanketed the Lone Star state.
Here on the home front, the West Virginia Legislature convened in Charleston on February 10 and the West Virginia Coal Association filed a petition to intervene in what promises to be a landmark case brought by American Electric Power (AEP) before the WV Public Service Commission that will have major implications for West Virginia’s coal mining industry.
In essence, AEP has offered to prematurely close the Mitchell coal plant in Marshall County, twelve years ahead of its normal run cycle, an action we vehemently oppose. National Solar interests and the Sierra Club are in support of this action. The Ohio-based utility has also been in negotiations with the Sierra Club over the continued operation of the John Amos power plant in Putnam County and the Mountaineer power plant in Mason County.
We need for all Friends of Coal to “Stand up and Be Counted” by immediately communicating your concerns over the actions of AEP today! Please contact your elected officials including Governor Justice, Senators’ Manchin and Capito, the West Virginia Public Service Commission.
Please join your fellow Friends of Coal to express your support for keeping these West Virginia coal plants running, our miners working, and the communities surrounding these power plants vibrant.
Explain that coal-fired electricity is keeping our homes warm, our lights on, our virtual learning successful and our electric system secured and resilient.
Thank you for being a part of the greatest industry on earth!
Sincerely yours,
Chris Hamilton
President, WV Coal Association
Please Contact:
Office of Governor Jim Justice
1900 Kanawha Boulevard East
State Capitol
Charleston, WV 25305
Phone: 304/558-2000
US Senator Joe Manchin
900 Pennsylvania Ave Ste 629
Charleston WV 25302
(304) 342-5855
US Shelley Moore Capito
500 Virginia St E Ste 950,
Charleston, WV 25301
(304) 347-5372
Congressman David McKinley
1100 Main St Ste 101,
Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 232-3801
Congressman Alex Mooney
405 Capitol Street
Suite 306
Charleston, WV 25301
(304) 925-5964
Congresswoman Carol Miller
845 5th Avenue
Suite 314
Huntington, WV 25701
Phone: (304) 522-2201
(304) 522-2201
West Virginia Public Service Commission
723 Kanawha Boulevard East, 700
Charleston, West Virginia, 25301
Phone: 304-558-0526