CHARLESTON – There is a sudden, unexpected and massive rise in electricity demand occurring across the country due to a variety of factors converging before us.
Large power-gobbling data centers necessary to support our nation’s ever-increasing digital activities and the evolution of artificial intelligence technologies are a primary factor.
Our growing economy, the rise in remote work, personal technology reliance, and electric vehicle usage are also contributing to this demand.
This is great news for states like West Virginia, which generate more electricity than it consumes and has the capability and capacity to accommodate the expected growth in demand.
Not only is West Virginia blessed with indigenous coal supplies, but we also check the box for available land mass and plentiful water supplies necessary for power development.
Most importantly, West Virginia’s electric power ecosystem has at its core, a series of proven, high-output electric generating facilities driven by local fuel supplies that produce base load, affordable and reliable electricity.
This system also provides fifteen percent of the state’s total revenue and more than 50,000 good paying jobs. The taxes, fees and spending power generated by the coal and electric manufacturing industry continues to keep families and communities intact and thriving.
This is not an industry looking to come here or to disrupt our state’s fine-tuned electrical ecosystem and culture, but one that is here today sharing our goals and family values all throughout our great state.
A November 2024 study by Venture Energy Analysis found West Virginia’s retail electric rates to be among the lowest in the country based on its coal-fired electric generating assets and the fact that West Virginia’s electrical system is regulated with all operating, fuel and maintenance costs kept to a minimum.
By comparison, the, states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and Virginia, our neighbors, all rely on a higher percentage of natural gas and renewable energy forms. Their average retail electric sales are above or higher than West Virginia. In fact, West Virginia ships “coal-by-wire” to all our neighboring states.
Historically, West Virginia’s electricity rates have consistently been ranked among the most affordable, often placing as the first, second, or third lowest among the 26 states east of the Mississippi River.
Despite growing pressures nationally to transition away from the use of coal and coal-fired electric generation, West Virginia’s coal industry has effectively defended its coal fleet and continues to invest in its operations and plans to remain a major part of the state’s economy, as well as domestic and international commerce, for decades to come.
With 2024 preliminary production totaling eighty-four million tons of the highest quality thermal and metallurgical coal, West Virginia is solidifying its identity as the nation’s epicenter for baseload power generation and a critical feedstock for world steel-making and infrastructure build out.
West Virginia has the most diverse and balanced coal portfolio found anywhere in the world. West Virginia coal continues to strengthen its strong presence in domestic and export markets by shipping valuable coal supplies to practically every state east of the Mississippi River and to forty foreign countries.
We are a coal export powerhouse and the national leader accounting for nearly half of all US coal exports. Coal is also the state’s fastest growing export product accounting for nearly fifty percent of all exported goods and commodities from the Mountain State.
While coal exports are on the rise, domestic coal consumption for electric generation is increasingly at risk. As more coal power plant closures are announced around the country, West Virginia’s baseload generation assets become even more critical to ensure a resilient and stable electric grid and the uninterrupted flow of household and industrial power.
No other power source or base fuel can fill the void of the losses forecast for coal generation. Highly subsidized, renewable energy sources do not provide equivalent power output. On average, it takes seven times the renewable power to equate to one unit of coal-based power. And commercial scale hydrogen and nuclear power are, frankly, decades away.
Moreover, regional grid operators and federal regulatory agencies have issued multiple warnings over reliability and resource adequacy, detailing how grid stability and the delivery of electricity are compromised.
The state of West Virginia and West Virginia’s coal industry is perfectly positioned to meet and benefit from the exponentially-rising demand for electricity. We have a natural advantage.
With a new lineup of coal-supportive political leadership taking office, we are hopeful West Virginia’s coal industry and coal-fired electric generation assets will be provided maximum support so the industry may quickly respond to the growing challenges and opportunities before us.
Hamilton is president/CEO of the West Virginia Coal Association.