The President and Chief Operating Officer of Appalachian Power says
they'll ask the Virginia State Corporation Commission to look again at
the company's proposal for a $2.23 billion clean coal power plant in
West Virginia.
On Monday, Virginia's Commission denied Appalachian Power's request to
build the plant in Mason County. "We'll provide some more detail to
address their concerns," Dana Waldo says of the appeal. "We put on, I
think, a very powerful case about the IGCC (Integrated Gasification
Combined Cycle) technology, the need for the power plant and the need
to use coal."
MetroNews
The President and Chief Operating Officer of Appalachian Power says they'll ask the Virginia State Corporation Commission to look again at the company's proposal for a $2.23 billion clean coal power plant in West Virginia.
On Monday, Virginia's Commission denied Appalachian Power's request to build the plant in Mason County. "We'll provide some more detail to address their concerns," Dana Waldo says of the appeal. "We put on, I think, a very powerful case about the IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) technology, the need for the power plant and the need to use coal."
As proposed, the plant would turn coal into gas. It's a process that company officials say would help with the removal of pollutants.
Approval from Virginia regulators is needed because Appalachian customers in Virginia will help pay for the plant to be built. A request for increased rates, from Appalachian Power and parent company American Electric Power, to start recouping some of those construction costs was also denied this week in West Virginia's neighboring state.
"We're very concerned. We're disappointed. We believe IGCC is absolutely necessary to keep coal in the fuel mix of this nation and so we'll be going back to the Virginia Commission and ask them to reconsider their decision," Waldo said on Tuesday's MetroNews Talkline.
The Virginia Commission had problem with the estimated cost for the plant and, because of that, called the proposal an 'extraordinary risk.' The proposal calls for a monthly surcharge would be added to customer bills during the four years it would take to build the site.
West Virginia's Public Service Commission has approved it, saying it's needed. Waldo uses this analogy. "The forecast calls for rain tomorrow. We want to have an umbrella in our hand and the (Virginia) Commission align did not align itself with that concept."
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