Electricity prices in West Virginia have increased faster than the rate of inflation. A recent report concluded that the state’s heavy reliance on coal is the reason.
Curtis Tate spoke with the report’s author, Brendan Pierpont, director of electricity modeling for Energy Innovation Policy and Technology.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tate: What’s really behind the rising electricity prices in the state?
Pierpont: When you look at West Virginia, in particular, it stands out as a place where coal is, in spite of these economic forces, coal is remaining on the system and regulators are actually doubling down on coal in a lot of ways. And so even when utilities have conducted analyses that suggest that these coal plants should retire, regulators have pushed uneconomic plans to stay online, push the utilities to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment in those plants…
