Dive Brief:

• A bill allowing utilities to retrofit coal boilers through a surcharge on electric bills is being taken up by the West Virginia Senate, having found support in a committee as well as the full House of Delegates, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reports. 
• House Bill 4435 is being pushed forward by the West Virginia Coal Association, and would allow utilities to upgrade plants to ensure they continue running, outside of the normal and extensive rate process taken up by state regulators.
• Utilities in the state told the Charleston Gazette-Mail that they were not behind the bill, but said they support its passage.
• Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association, told the newspaper the bill aims to save coal jobs which would be eliminated if utilities shutter their power plants. The plan is "to keep as many coal miners working in West Virginia as possible," he said.

Dive Insight:

A coal bill aiming to support the industry's employment would make it easier for utilities to continue operating their plants and upgrading older equipment, using legislative intent to sidestep a more extensive base rate review.

“It is an encouragement for them to modernize their boilers instead of shutting them down,” Raney said told the newspaper. The measure passed 96-3 in the House of Delegates, and the Senate’s Committee on Energy, Industry and Mining recently passed the bill for consideration by the full body.

While the measure has the support of West Virginia utilities, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reports they did not call for the bill.

“We did not initiate or request this bill,” Jeri Matheney, Appalachian Power’s director of communications, told the paper.

“While the coal industry introduced the bill, FirstEnergy does support it,” spokesman Todd Meyers said.

The bill specifically notes that West Virginia's abundant coal reserves "have created, and will continue to create, many benefits to the state and its citizens." But it also cautioned the state is "experiencing a significant downturn in the coal industry as a result of increasing environmental regulation and increased competition from natural gas and oil."

The changing marketplace means West Virginia must be "proactive and focus on the modernization and improvement of coal-fired boilers used by electric utilities in this state to allow the more efficient use of coal in the generation of electricity with reduced environmental impact," the legislation concluded.