Dive Brief:

• The West Virginia Senate and House have voted to repeal a 2009 law requiring utilities to source 25% of their power from alternative sources. 
• The Daily Telegraph reports the measure passed in the Senate unanimously, with little debate, though Democrats had attempted to attach a report on the law's effectiveness.
• Lawmakers in the West Virginia House of Representatives passed a similar measure following about an hour of debate, according to WOWK TV.

Dive Insight:

West Virginia lawmakers are working quickly to make good on promises to repeal the state's alternative fuels law. The West Virginia Senate unanimously passed a measure to roll back renewables mandates, and the House followed with a 95-4 repeal vote as well.

The move is unusual, as renewable energy portfolios have enjoyed wide support recently. Generally the measures are cost-effective, with research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimating the costs of most programs to be equivalent to less than 2% of retail rates in 17 states, with 10 of these states having estimated costs equivalent to less than 1% of retail rates. 

Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler had attempted to attach a report to the bill assessing the alternative fuels law's impact on rates. “It is really nothing more than we get a report to measure the effectiveness of this legislation,” Kessler said, according to the Metro News.