West Virginia Repeals The Alternative And Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard

On February 3, 2015, West
Virginia repealed the Alternative and Renewable Energy Portfolio Act that was
originally passed and adopted in 2009. This Act (the Standard)
required utilities serving 30,000 residential customers or more to generate at
least 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. To be in
compliance with the Standard, utilities could use coal (e.g., advanced
coal technologies and waste coal), natural gas, and fuel generated from burning
tires as alternative energy sources. This broad definition of what constituted
renewable and alternative energy made the Standard easy to comply with, and
utilities did not have issues reaching the benchmark percentages that were
outlined in the legislation. The Governor of West Virginia, Earl Ray Tomblin
(D), stated that the Standard was repealed because it was no longer economically
beneficial for West Virginia.