House votes to repeal alternative energy act in 95-4 vote - Beckley Register-Herald

CHARLESTON â€" Although very few delegates spoke against passage of a bill that would repeal the state’s Alternative and Renewable Energy Act, debate and discussion went on for more than an hour before the House of Delegates voted 95-4 to undo a law many say was not effective in the first place. 

A similar Senate version of the bill passed unanimously earlier this week. Language of both bills will be integrated into one final version that could be on the governor’s desk as early as today. 

The Alternative and Renewable Energy Act of 2009 set benchmarks for utility companies to use alternative and renewable fuels â€" up to 25 percent of the energy they produced by 2025. The bill went into effect Jan. 1. 

Utility companies were already meeting the 2015 standards, according to FirstEnergy’s Sammy Gray, who testified at both Senate and House energy committees last week. Gray said his company would be fine with or without the standards, but did prefer a free market approach. 

According to a Public Service Commission report the Energy Act had little effect on coal jobs. 

“The coal industry and the future of coal-fired generation in the state will be impacted by factors that are unrelated to the Portfolio Act including changes in natural gas pricing and the rules proposed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency in June 2014,” the report said. 

Also, the report says the act does not mandate the use of renewables, but instead provides the option for utilities to use renewables as an  energy source. 

“The Portfolio Act enables West Virginia to utilize our diverse energy resource base,” the report said.

During the debate, delegates who work as coal miners spoke in favor of repeal.

“I came here to fight for repealing legislation just like this,” said Josh Nelson, R-Boone. Nelson said if repealing the act puts only one coal miner back to work, then it is worth the effort. 

Likewise, Randy Smith, R-Preston, said he ran for office because he took offense to the bill when it passed in 2009. 

“What did this bill say to us coal miners? Did it say, ‘we’ve got your back?’” he asked. “It’s a slap in the face of coal miners.”

Delegate Rupert Phillips, D-Logan, said the country was “built on coal.” Phillips said only .46 percent of energy in the country is produced by solar panels, while wind is at 4.3 percent. 

“Coal is around 38 percent,” he said, “but eight years ago it was 54 percent.”

Phillips said more than 100 years of coal is left to be mined in the state. 

The act did not leave coal out of the energy-producing equation, allowing waste coal, liquified coal and coal bed methane to be used as alternative fuels. 

FirstEnergy has about 1 million energy credits, said Delegate John Shott, R-Mercer. Pricing those credits at about $5 each, Shott said the utility company has a large asset that would benefit their customers with lower rates. 

Delegate Nancy Guthrie, D-Kanwha, said the 2009 act did not hurt the coal industry, but instead was a step in the direction of diversifying the state’s economy. Guthrie said that in order for the state to get its bond ratings to AAA, it would have to do just that. 

“Why aren’t we embracing every possible source (of energy)?” Guthrie asked. She said the state has an abundant supply of water and people are using solar and wind energies to reduce their utility costs. “Rates are coming down for those folks who are smart enough to get away from one source (of energy).”

“We are running out of coal, that’s why we’ve had so many layoffs,” she continued. “We are going to wear coal around or necks like a yoke that will drag all of us down.”

Amid shouts of “point of order!” from several delegates, Guthrie apologized, but maintained repealing the law was a “wrong-headed approach.”

Her comments drew fire from Delegate Gary Howell, R-Mineral, who held a piece of coal above his head while proclaiming coal to be the “diamond necklace hanging around the neck of West Virginia.”

Democrat Barbara Fleischauer, Monongalia County, noted the original bill includes the use of coal as an energy source. Fleischauer warned that, citing a West Virginia University professor, the Environmental Protection Agency could take over some of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection duties if West Virginia doesn’t begin to comply with its Clean Power Program. 

But, she said, she doesn’t believe the bill has anything to do with increasing or decreasing coal jobs. 

“I’m tired of all these myths being circulated as if they were fact,” she said. “In the last election those myths were used as a club. It’s time we stopped.”

Fleischauer said the act was a “baby step” toward admitting that the climate is changing. 

Guthrie, Fleischauer, Delegate Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, and Delegate Stephen Skinner, D-Jefferson, voted against the measure to repeal. 

Delegate Tim Manchin, D- Marion, said he would vote in favor of repealing the act. His constituents believe what they’ve been told about the act’s negative effect on the coal industry, he said. 

But, Manchin said, those constituents would never know if repealing the act had any effect because the House would not call for an economic impact study. 

“We had the opportunity to pass an  environmental impact statement so these people could learn if promises have been kept,” Manchin said. “I expect to continue to ask if the promises that have been made to my people have been kept.”

House Minority Leader Tim Miley, D-Harrison, voted in favor of the repeal, but said earlier this week that the law itself was a “toothless tiger.” Miley was a proponent of the economic impact study. 

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