WEST VIRGINIA INJUSTICE ~ the foxes are in the henhouse

Gov. Justice Defends Bill Raney’s Appointment To WV Public Service Commission

From an Article by Joselyn King, Wheeling Intelligencer, August 7, 2021

WHEELING — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice defended his appointment of retired West Virginia Coal Association President Bill Raney to the State Public Service Commission.

The commission’s mission is to “ensure fair and prompt regulation of public utilities; to provide for adequate, economical and reliable utility services throughout the state; and to appraise and balance the interests of current and future utility service customers with the general interest of the state’s economy and the interests of the utilities,” according to its website.

Justice termed Raney “a great man” and a great choice to be on the commission. “Bill has served this state in every way,” he said. “He worked hand and hand and led the charge with the Coal Association for years and years.

He will absolutely be sworn in in the coming weeks, and I know he will do a tremendous job. “He loves our state beyond good sense — just like I do. I think the world of him. He is so qualified and so well-versed it’s unbelievable.”

Justice was asked if his selection of Raney to join the PSC means the commission is being tilted toward coal producers. “I don’t want us to walk away from coal producers,” he said. “We are an energy producing state, and we should be proud of it. Bill Raney will do a great job in any way I can imagine.”

Raney will assume the seat vacated by former State Sen. Brooks McCabe, D-Kanawha. Brooks’ term expired June 30. He will join Charlotte Lane and Renee Larrick on the commission.

Justice commended the sitting commissioners for their decision this week to approve a certificate of convenience and necessity requested by Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power for the Mitchell Power Plant, the John Amos Power Plant in Putnam County, and the Mountaineer Power Plant in Mason County.

The move is expected to permit the power plants to continue operating until 2040.

“I think it’s the right decision,” Justice said. “We can’t afford to risk our base load generation capacities. We must do everything we can to protect these plants and protect those jobs. … We want to embrace renewables. We want to embrace the clean air efforts, but we’re not ready. Hopefully, we’ll be ready someday. But right now we’re not ready.

“If anybody thinks we can move to renewables and we don’t need coal, we don’t need gas, we don’t need oil … that’s a frivolous, silly thought. It is absolutely wrong. In the meantime we’re going to lose jobs on an experiment that’s going to turn around and bite every last one of us in the butt.”

Justice said he knows, if plans for renewables would fail, people soon would be standing on street corners with signs reading “drill, baby, drill.”

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West Virginia Air Quality Board, WV-DEP Web-Site, April 3, 2022

The West Virginia Air Quality Board is a quasi-judicial Board of review responsible for hearing appeals regarding the issuance or denial of permits, permit conditions, or enforcement decisions rendered by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Air Quality. The Board is composed of seven members, five of whom are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate and two ex-officio members who are Commissioners of the Bureau for Public Health and the Department of Agriculture.

1. J. Michael Koon, Chair – Public at Large Representative, Appointed: October 1, 1993. Retired Dean, West Virginia Northern Community College, Weirton Campus, and Vice President of Economic and Workforce Development. M.S., Biology – Environmental Studies, West Virginia University, 1977; B.A., Biology, West Virginia University, 1973.

2. R. Thomas Hansen, Ph.D., Vice-Chair – Industry Representative, Appointed: November 17, 1997. Employed by Boyd Oil & Gas, Inc. Attended Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 1976 – 1977, Postdoctoral, Yale University, New Haven, CT 1971 – 1976, Doctorate, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 1967 – 1969, B.S. Chemistry, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 1965 – 1967.

3. Robert C. Orndorff, Jr., Member – Industry Representative, Appointed: November 4, 2009. Managing Director, W. Va. and Exploration & Production, Local Affairs, for Dominion Energy; Master’s degree, Indiana University; Bachelor’s degree, Millersville University of Pennsylvania. Board member for the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Vice Chair of Chamber Energy Committee, Board member of West Virginia Education Alliance, and Board member and past president of West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association.

4. Vacant, Member. 5. Vacant, Member.

Tagged as: air pollution, climate change, coal, drilling, frack gas, Friends of Coal, GHG, PSC