More West Virginia lawmakers have advanced a measure that would require state agencies to strategize to push coal production and consumption by considering new coal-fired plants, which effectively have become a thing of the past due to their economic burden on operators.
The House of Delegates Energy and Public Works Committee on Wednesday approved a resolution, Senate Concurrent Resolution 18, that would require the Department of Commerce, the Public Energy Authority and the Office of Energy to strategize to “fully develop coal production and in-state coal consumption.â€
The resolution would require the agencies to consider:
New coal-fired and coke plants and new coal-to-products operations
Regulations needed to establish a program for coal-fired utilities to make regular coal plant upgrades and maintenance programs to run more efficiently and extend plant life
Agreements to keep existing coal plants from closing prematurely
Coal-fired utility regulations needed to prevent use of privatization for “closing coal-fired generationsâ€
Already approved by the Senate last month, SCR 18 has been advanced in the House to its Rules Committee.
Led in sponsorship by Sen. Brian Helton, R-Fayette, SCR 18 reflects the makeup of the GOP-supermajority Legislature, naming former Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden as at fault for declining coal mining employment and productivity levels despite a steeper drop-off in the sector’s employment during President Donald Trump’s first term than in either Obama’s or Biden’s first terms.
SCR 18’s advancement comes as coal industry groups, including the West Virginia Coal Association, ask the Trump administration to reconsider its proposal to allow a fee of up to seven figures for Chinese-built vessels entering U.S. ports.
The House Energy and Public Works Committee signed off on SCR 18 after Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, objected to it, calling it “blatantly political†and predicting it would cause electric rates to increase.
“[I]t’s favoring a single type of production over an all-of-the-above energy strategy that would diversify our fuel mix,†Hansen said. “And that could include gas. That could include nuclear, could include renewables, could include energy efficiency, could include smart grid technologies. It could include reforms at the Public Service Commission. There’s all sorts of things that could be done to stabilize electric rates.â€
The House rejected a proposal by Hansen last month to discharge legislation he proposed, House Bill 3173, from where it’s been languishing in the Energy and Public Works Committee. HB 3173 would place a cap on electrical utility rates until July 1, 2026.
Coal mining employment declined 25.7% to 37,900 during Trump’s first four years in office, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. During Biden’s four years in office, in contrast, coal mining employment grew 9% to 41,300. Coal mining employment declined 9.3% in Obama’s first term and 29.3% during his second.
Hansen rejected Trump’s assertion that there is a national energy emergency by alluding to U.S. energy production exceeding consumption by a record amount in 2023, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data.
Hansen was allowed to keep talking by Energy and Public Works Committee Chair Bill Anderson, R-Wood, who overruled objections from Environment, Infrastructure and Technology Subcommittee Chair Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, that Hansen wasn’t sufficiently focusing on SCR 18 in his remarks.
“You don’t need this resolution,†Hansen said. “We have a free market.â€
WV Coal Association predicted ‘adverse consequences’
Coal industry members of that free market have been leery of an Office of the U.S. Trade Representative proposal released in February to allow a fee of up to seven figures for Chinese-built vessels entering U.S. ports as part of an investigation into China’s increasing control of the global shipbuilding sector launched under Biden.
In formal comments submitted in response to the Trump administration service fee proposal, the West Virginia Coal Association said it would have “an immediate and adverse impact on coal production and employment†in West Virginia and other coal-producing states. The West Virginia Coal Association and other industry groups said merely proposing the rule has caused adverse impacts. The Coal Association reported confusion and delays in negotiations over coal shipments.
In comments submitted on behalf of 11 coal industry groups throughout the U.S., West Virginia Coal Association president and CEO Chris Hamilton said the Trump administration proposal would “most certainly price American coal out of the seaborne market†and predicted “significant and adverse consequences on American coal producers and tens of thousands of jobs that support the industry.â€
In its comment letter, the American Coal Council, a national coal industry group, said the proposal would affect companies mining coal, railroads and barge carriers transporting coal, port operators storing and loading coal into vessels, and other companies servicing the coal supply chain such as vessel agencies and coal-testing laboratories.
“Just the publicity around this potential action has already negatively impacted coal, causing disruptions in commercial discussions on new export contracts and delays in shipping coal under contracts already in place,†American Coal Council CEO Emily Arthun said in the letter.
Counsel to steelmaker Nucor Corp. asserted in a comment letter that “broad actions†targeting Chinese-built vessels and operators that use Chinese vessels in their fleets could lead to substantially higher shipping costs for American steel companies that import raw materials.
W.Va. AG: Proposal ‘does excessive harm to the coal industry’
West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey said in a comment letter that “while just about nothing should be off the table in opposing the Communist Party of China,†the Trump administration proposal “does excessive harm to the coal industry.â€
McCuskey’s opposition to the rule proposal comes as Gov. Patrick Morrisey and other leaders are pushing legislation in House Bill 2014 whose stated aim is to guard against Chinese data computational supremacy by enticing data center development in West Virginia through removing local control and PSC jurisdiction that could provide checks on that development.
Far-reaching import tariffs being imposed by the Trump administration are expected to reduce coal company opportunities to profit on the international market rather than reversing the U.S. coal industry’s long decline.
Chinese response to Trump regime tariffs on imports from China with tariffs on West Virginia coal could result in “severe negative impacts†on the industry, the Ohio River Valley Institute, a pro-renewable energy think tank, noted in a report released last month.
Trump’s tariffs risk debilitating international trade and have raised fears of setting off a global recession.
Mike Tony covers energy and the environment. He can be reached at mtony@hdmediallc.com or 304-348-1236. Follow @Mike__Tony on X.
