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West Virginia House passes Morrisey’s microgrid/data center bill

House Finance Committee Vice Chairman Clay Riley believes House Bill 2014, the certified microgrid program, will help spur growth in high-impact data centers in the state. (Photo Courtesy/WV Legislative Photography)

CHARLESTON – The West Virginia House of Delegates spent more than three hours on the floor Tuesday, including passing Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s microgrid and data center bill, earning praise from the governor.

The House passed 18 House bills Tuesday ahead of the Wednesday Crossover Day deadline, when bills must be sent over to the Senate and vice versa in order to be passed in time for the ending of the 2025 legislative session at midnight on Saturday, April 12.

The engrossed committee substitute for HB 2014 would create the Power Generation and Consumption Act. The bill passed the House in an 88-22 vote Tuesday and now heads to the state Senate.

The bill creates a Certified Microgrid Program within the Division (currently the Department) of Economic Development to support the attraction of high-impact data centers to the state as well as the localized power generation for such facilities, also called microgrids.

The bill would allow any business to participate in the Certified Microgrid Program and would allow for multiple microgrids across the state if more than 60% of the electricity generated is used by one or more high-impact data centers, defined as one or more facilities with a power load of 90 megawatts total.

These microgrids are limited to a sale of 10% of the electricity generated to the wholesale market. The remaining energy must be used internally. Applicants to the program would be required to negotiate in good faith with the local electric utility for supply of the required energy before being approved for the microgrid program. HB 2014 contains language to protect current electric ratepayers from having to pay for the microgrid connection or any of the electricity supplies.

High-impact data centers would file tax returns with the Board of Public Works. While county property tax revenue would be kept at current levels, the remaining property tax dollars would be paid to the state and divided among six different funds, including a new grid stabilization fund to assist regulated utilities to develop and maintain coal and natural gas generation and transmission.

The bill also includes requirements for the state Public Service Commission to consider capacity factors when looking at future electric generating needs. The PSC is required to regulate electric utilities to achieve a 69% capacity factor by maintaining a thermal base load, though there is no requirement to operate at this level if not economical. The bill also requires coal-fired power plants to maintain an average annual minimum 30-day supply of coal.

House Finance Committee Vice Chairman Clay Riley, R-Harrison, likened the opportunity for West Virginia to attract data centers to the growth of the chemical industry in the state in the 1940s and 1950s.

“We have powered this country for generations, and we can continue to power it for generations ahead,” Riley said. “The men and women that work in the coal industry, the 60,000 people who keep the lights on and the 90,000 people who work in the natural gas industry, those 150,000 West Virginians want to continue to power this country.

“After World War II, we had this same opportunity in the chemical and in the manufacturing industry,” Riley said. “We showed grit, we figured it out. … I think we’ll do it again. Give West Virginia an opportunity, and we’ll win.”

The bill was a major part of Morrisey’s legislative agenda laid out for lawmakers during his inaugural State of the State address at the start of the 60-day legislative session on Feb. 12. The House has passed several bills introduced on behalf of Morrisey: Senate Bill 458, creating universal licensing recognition; House Bill 2002, creating a one-stop shop permitting process; and House Bill 2013, exempting new hires in certain state departments from civil service protections and grievance procedures.

“The House of Delegates took significant steps to fuel West Virginia’s comeback and make our state more competitive with the rest of the nation,” Morrisey said in a statement Tuesday. “I’m grateful to the House for taking up and passing four of my bills that will move the needle in the ways that matter. I look forward to the Senate quickly approving these bills as well and sending them to my desk for approval.”

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com

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