WOWK-TV: Power purchase agreements and job creation topics on "Inside West Virginia Politics"

Legalizing on-site Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and creating renewable energy jobs were topics on the "Inside West Virginia Politics" (Feb. 1) with Mark Curtis, chief political reporter for WOWK-13 News.

Autumn Long, program director for Solar United Neighbors-West Virginia (one of our founding coalition partners), talked about the popular financing option that would create jobs and provide benefits to consumers, schools, municipalities, churches, and nonprofits in the state.

Watch the full report.

Want to help legalize on-site PPAs? Email lawmakers today and ask them to support our #PPAs4WV campaign! We need your voice now more than ever!

WV News: Del. Evan Hansen plans bills to create jobs, address West Virginia's lack of renewable energy

WV News file photo

Making on-site Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) available in West Virginia is one of three bills that Del. Evan Hansen (D-Monongalia) plans to introduce this session, according to an WV News article.

The PPAs bill stalled in committee during previous sessions because of pressure from FirstEnergy and AEP lobbyists. "I can’t make any promises, but I know there are legislators from both parties who are interested in moving that bill,” Hansen said in the article.

James Van Nostrand, director of WVU Law Center for Energy and Sustainable Development (a coalition member), says on-site PPAs will help consumers save money. "... Our electricity rates keep going up," he said, "and it would be nice if people had some ability to hedge against that by investing in solar and making solar accessible by approving power purchasing agreements."

Another bill would focus on energy efficiency for state-owned buildings. The third, called the Just Transition bill, would create a process to focus funding and resources into communities impacted by the decline of coal production, Hansen said in the article.

Read the WV News article and read the (Clarksburg) Exponent-Telegram editorial supporting Hansen.

Charleston Gazette-Mail: Electric resource plans suggest hotly contested path to WV's energy future

Energy companies serving WV residents sent a mixed message on renewable energy like solar in their 5-year plans filed with the state’s Public Service Commission, say members of our coalition in a Charleston Gazette-Mail article.

Autumn Long, program director for Solar United Neighbors-West Virginia (a founding partner of our coalition), applauds Appalachian Power’s “massive uptick” in rooftop solar adoption but recalls the company’s opposition to Senate Bill 611, a measure to legalize on-site Power Purchase Agreements that stalled in last year’s legislative session.

The bill, which will be re-introduced this year, provides financing options for distributing solar to schools, businesses, and homeowners in the state. “I hope West Virginia lawmakers will take note of this hypocrisy in 2021 and act in the best interests of their constituents rather than bowing to pressure from monopoly utility companies,” Long said.

Read the article.

Report outlines ways WV utilities can embrace renewable energy & energy efficiency

WVU College of Law Center for Energy and Sustainable Development, one of our coalition members, published a report showing that West Virginia's electric utilities can create jobs and maintain cost-effectiveness while ramping up renewable energy and energy efficiency over the next 15 years to achieve 78% emission-free energy by 2035.

Legalizing on-site Power Purchase Agreements would be helpful in reaching those numbers. Email lawmakers today and ask them to support our #PPAs4WV campaign.

The report cites “at least five reasons electric utilities in West Virginia urgently need to consider a major ramping up of renewable energy and energy efficiency that begins today.

1. Renewable energy is now cheap, and it’s continuing to get cheaper.

2. Customers — both businesses and individuals — overwhelmingly are demanding renewable energy.

3. Diversifying our power resource mix is critical to competing in the growing regional renewable energy economy and, more broadly, securing a place in the 21st-century energy economy.

4. The financial risk posed by emissions from power plants is growing due to majority public support for bipartisan proposals to address climate change by charging fees for carbon dioxide emissions. These fees would necessarily hit coal-fired power plants hardest because those plants emit the most carbon dioxide.

5. Major lenders and investors increasingly are withholding capital from utilities that aren’t transitioning away from emission-heavy resource mixes.”

• Download the report: West Virginia's Energy Future: Ramping Up Renewable Energy to Decrease Costs, Reduce Risks, and Strengthen Economic Opportunities for West Virginia.

• Read The Charleston Gazette-Mail story about the report.

Sierra Club Report, Dominion Post article spotlight benefits of PPAs

Click on image to download a pdf of the Sierra Club report.

A Sierra Club report titled "Clean Energy Works in West Virginia" highlights how expanding solar-friendly policies like Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) can expand access to affordable solar energy, create good new jobs, and drive economic growth in the Mountain State.

From the report:

Timothy Reese of Capon Bridge sees major potential for policies like Power Purchase Agreements to benefit small farmers like himself. “There is a lot of marginal farmland in West Virginia. We need policies that allow small farmers to take some of our acreage and install solar that would help the agricultural community generate income from their land. Solar energy is the perfect fit for a rural state.”

The report, released in January, was developed with Vandalia Energy Services. Both the Sierra Club and Vandalia Energy Services are members of the West Virginians for Energy Freedom coalition.

Reporter David Beard of The Dominion-Post spotlighted the Sierra Club report, PPAs, and interviews with renewable energy leaders and advocates in a recent article on expanding solar energy in West Virginia.

During the 2021 West Virginia Legislature’s session, Del. Evan Hansen (D-Monongalia) plans to sponsor a bill to legalize PPAs, according to the article.

Last session, Senate Judiciary chair Charles Trump, R-Morgan, co-sponsored a PPA bill, SB 611, that was co-sponsored by Energy chair Randy Smith, R-Tucker, but it didn't move.

But with that kind of support plus a planned interim study on the topic this summer, Hansen is optimistic about its chances. "Hopefully we can get that across the finish line next session."

WV News: Sun may be rising on solar energy in West Virginia

Renewable energy leaders and advocates in the state think the passage of the Utility Solar Bill (SB 583) is a step in increasing energy freedom and job creation, reports Clarissa Cottrill, Morgantown News Editor for WV News, and they hope the legalization of on-site Power Purchase Agreements are on the horizon.

From the report:

SB 583 is one of the baby steps being taken to address the issue, but there’s more to be done if lawmakers really want to impact the energy and economic landscape in the Mountain State.

On-site power purchase agreements and allowing the property owner to purchase the energy the facility produces on a month-to-month basis, similar to leasing, is a possible next step, according to Long.

“It’s a really appealing option for businesses who want to go solar but who don’t want to put out the capital investment to own that solar,” she said.