The incoming legislative leaders in both the State Senate and House have announced their intentions to elevate the legislative energy committees to "major committee" status when the Legislature convenes in January.
Current House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, who will likely be Speaker following the December caucus and State Senator Bill Cole, who is projected to become the new Senate President stressed the importance of coal and energy to the state (past and future) when making the announcement.
Both Armstead and Cole indicated that they would like for the Legislature's involvement with coal and energy issues to become more contributory to the success and viability of the state's energy industries.
Below is a related news article appearing in the Wheeling Intelligencer.
http://www.wvcoal.com/latest/w-va-gop-leaders-to-elevate-state-energy-panel.html